Not a Soul!
by MajorMutation
Summary: They've been together for a year and a half, and have been in love even longer. But they're the only ones that know that. After they decide to go away together for a romantic weekend to a secluded bed and breakfast in the mountains, they find that their secret romance is at risk of being exposed to the entire school. (From the author of Can't See the Forest and When the Sun Rises)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, this story came about out of cabin fever. With this stupid ice storm, I've been off work, and have been bored out of my mind. **

**I've tried to take a crack at writing in first person. I really hope you guys like it. **

**Summary: They've been together for a year and a half so far, and have been in love with each other even longer, but they are the only ones that know. But after they go away together for an extended weekend to a secluded and romantic Inn, their relationship is threatened when someone finds out about them.**

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><p>You know, sometimes, I really hate being a teenager.<p>

And I know, I know, but it's not for the reasons you hear those whiny, uptight, MTV teens you hear spouting on those stupid reality shows that my generation seems to be obsessed with. It's not because of the pressures of being a teenager, or the temptations that are out there, the decisions that I'm told have to be made, like colleges, careers, et cetra. It's because I seem to have the brain that's too mature to be trapped in a teenagers body.

Yeah, I get it. It sounds a bit stuck up and presumptuous to say that. I mean, I sound like '_The Rhonda Wellington Lloyd'_ when I say that. I can even picture myself shoving my nose into the stratosphere and sashaying as I say it, but come on, these idiots I have to put up with on a daily basis do nothing but prove my point. There's a saying that I've heard that we are one chromosome away from chimpanzees... and it shows. And it shows pretty obviously in the imbeciles at the high school I'm forced to attend.

Another crappy song starts playing on my phone and I dig it out of my pocket, hitting skip on the next few until I can find something that actually sounds appealing. There are just times when none of my music sounds good, and this morning is one of those times. I always hate these times. I settle on an old punk song and shove my phone back into my pocket, picking up the speed of my walk. I don't know why. It's not like I'm in a rush to get to school, and it's not like the bell is going to ring in ten minutes, and I'm still fifteen minutes away.

Bob may have been able to make his profits soar when he branched out in product, but his ego went with it. I mean, I'm the daughter of the famous 'Big Bob Pataki', you'd think someone with that kind of reputation wouldn't want his own flesh and blood to be seen walking to school every morning. But alas, I'm stuck with my old skate shoes being my only mode of transportation.

What was I saying before? That stupid pop punk song that came on distracted me. Oh yeah, hating being a teenager.

I guess it's not all bad. And I guess when you compare my life to others, it isn't so bad, when you look at it as a whole that is. But I guess I was always one to focus on the small details, and I've found that it's always the small details that are always the most damning in a person. It's always been my biggest flaw. I always look for a persons weakness before their strengths. I guess it's because when they decide to cross me, it's so I can exploit it that much easier.

Damn it, there I go again, talking about something that has nothing to do with what I was saying before. My mind is usually one big jumbled mess, but I've learned to live with it, surprising as that is.

Geez, I can almost gag looking at the morons I have to share eight hours of my day with, sitting on the steps outside of the school. All their cliques, how they all pass judgment, as if they were somehow endowed with the position to deem me worthy of them or not. What sickens me even more is that it's exactly who you'd expect it to be. The jocks and their cheerleaders. How much more cliche can you be?

Before I cross the street, I dig my phone back out and turn up the volume on this fast paced punk song that I just restarted. Not because I want to drown out their stupid gossip, but because I want them to hear it, just because it's not that sappy, emotional garbage they call music, done by some jerk off with a keyboard in his basement. I look away and avoid eye contact as I always do and jump up the steps just as the bell rang to go to class.

I guess I'll have to catch up with Pheebs a little later. As Hillwood High's front page saunter ahead of me, taking their snobby attitude with them, I scoff loud enough for them to hear me, and only roll my eyes when that stupid Kathy glares back at me. I know I'm a bitch, but in high school, it's survival of the fittest.

I catch the eye of one of the schools hall monitors, and this one knows me by name. He sends me his usual glare and I let out a sigh and pull out my ear phones. Man, I didn't know they could go that loud. I chuckle as I pause the music on my phone. That balding douche hates it that I have no respect for authority. I slid my thumb across the screen of my two year old phone, caught up in turning it to silent, that when I absentmindedly turned the corner to head to first period, it wasn't until I felt my ass hit the linoleum that I realize I ran into someone.

Great, now my ass is going to hurt all day thanks to whatever mindless idiot I just ran into. I suck in a breath, preparing my vocal chords to tell off the person, until I look over and see him sitting on the floor, rubbing his head. The deep breath I had breathed caught, and I guess it's lucky he hadn't met my eye line yet. I look past him and over to the cheerleaders and their arm candy, seeing some of them looking over at me. If they were to get wind of us, it would ruin me.

"Is that stupidly shaped head of yours still too thick to hold a brain in it?!" I crack, saying the first sarcastic remark that comes to mind. I get to my feet again, groaning at the dull, throbbing pain pulsing in my aching tail bone. I brush off some imaginary dust from my pant leg, just so I don't have to help him up. If I were to do that, I might just blow it all.

"Sorry Helga, I guess I wasn't looking."

His voice is so sexy when he's apologizing to me. "You guess?" I rhetorically ask him, still brushing my hands against my thighs. "Why don't you do me a favor and have an idea the next time you're walking?" I know it will kill me, especially with _them _watching, but I can't help it. I know he is smiling at me. I flick my eyes up to him, and sure enough, that stupid, shit eating smirk is gracing his lips.

"I'll remember that." He says and steps around me, brushing past me way too close. He's only smiling because he knows that they can't see him. What the hell is he thinking?! I look over my shoulder with a scowl, just to make my irritation seem real to them. I'm already late for class, and Mrs. Leonard already has it out for me anyway. That old bat likes everybody but me. I guess it's because I have a little something called a spine.

By the time I decide to turn ahead to actually go to class, the schools celebrities are gone, and the bell buzzes over my head. I can feel that stupid hall monitors eyes bore into the back of my head, probably trying to make me actually care that I'm late for my french class. But come on, the only reason I took this stupid class was because I needed a foreign language and the options were in alphabetical order, making french the first on the list, and the amount of how much I care the last on mine.

I open the door to the classroom, and disregard the eyes going to me, including the teachers and her stupid french accent, greeting us for the morning. I bet this bag of bones hasn't even been to France. I tune out when I sit in my seat in the back of class while I doodle in my notebook. When I hear the class go quiet, I look around and see that she has assigned us some crap that she didn't go over with us. Stupid broad doesn't know how to teach, but what do you want for thirty grand a year?

I look up to the clock and smile to myself. He's always right on time. And it's amazing, and not amazing that we haven't really drawn any suspicion. I pull out my planner from my backpack and go up to her desk and tossed it down in front of her. I shift my weight and cross my arms and look away, waiting for her to sign it. I see her hand it back to me and I grab it and make for the door, trying to hide my anticipation.

I turn and head down the hall towards our usual meeting place, and decide to look over my planner. Holy crap, we've done this a lot. It's only a month and a half into our junior year, and the back of my planner is almost full of teachers signatures, signing me out to give me permission to 'go to the ladies room'. I laugh and pick up my pace. I slow down a bit when I see another one of the stupid hall monitors look at me. It's not always a good thing to be on a first name basis with those pricks. I slow down to a very slow walk until he looks away and walks down the hall way that cuts across the one I'm in.

I let out a sigh of relief, but hear a door open next to me. I know it's him, but still, my heart skips gleefully as I feel his warm hand grab my wrist and yank me in. I feel myself giggle as darkness clouds my vision, hearing the door slam closed. I never have time to brace myself whenever he gets here before me, but then again, neither does he when I get here first.

Just like he usually does, he grabs onto my other wrist and pins them against the wall down by my sides, my skin already crawling with excitement. He was busy helping his parents all weekend, so my body is a bit frustrated. But as he steps into me, I can tell that he is to. My sense of victory over him is stolen when I feel his warm breath fan off me, and sense his lips just centimeters away from mine. "Apologize..." He said in his husky voice, even sexier than it is when he's playing along with my insults.

"For _what_?" I ask, keeping my voice down so no one who might be passing can hear us... although it's an exciting thought.

"Helga..." He warns me. I chuckle and lean my head forward to try and catch his lips, but I can feel him pulling back.

"Fine." I give in. I don't know why he always makes me apologize. I'm just keeping up the act, and he knows that. "I'm sorry. Can we make out now?" I whine. I haven't seen him all weekend, and he was busy with band on Friday.

I expect him to accept my apology, he always does. But this time he surprises me by smashing his lips against mine, kissing me with the passion that we usually have to work our way up to. He legs go of my wrists and pushes me against the wall, his hips pressing against mine so much so that I can feel the weight lift off my feet. His tongue finds mine after not that much effort given into looking for it, and I wrap my feet around his calves, my arms going around his skinny shoulders.

"Helga," He says into my mouth. He changed his toothpaste again. It's either to bug me or give me a reason to bug him. He knows I like the cool winter mint. "Gerald's getting suspicious again."

My pounding heart stops briefly, but he keeps kissing me and takes away the worry he just slapped me with. "I thought I told you to get rid of any of the clothes I leave in your room."

"I can't." He tells me. Ugh, I hate it and absolutely love it when he gets all mushy on me like this, especially when we are making out.

"Then learn to hide it better."

I hear him sigh when our lips are locked in a long kiss that I try to continue, but he is talking again before I can. "Helga, why can't we just tell them? Just Gerald and Phoebe." He says to me, pulling back but still holding me up against the wall.

"Have you lost your mind?!" I scold him, still keeping my voice low so no one will hear us. "We tell them, they tell someone else, and then we are outed to the whole school and before you know it, we are a laughing stock."

"But they're our best friends, Helga. If we tell them to keep it a secret, then they will."

He's been pushing me to tell them about us for a while now. A part of me knows that if we sit down with them and tell them about us, and tell them that they are not to tell anyone, then they will respect our wishes and keep their mouths shut. But... how do I put this lightly? Gerald's not my biggest fan. He's always held a grudge against me. And I know that he always gets the same speech about how if he just gives me a chance, blah blah blah, but if he gets wind of us, he would end us. "There is no way in hell I'm taking that chance, Arnold."

"But Helga, aren't you tired of sneaking around? Constantly having to lie to everyone, make up stories about where we go on our dates, and... making out in supply closets like a couple of horny teenagers?"

I bite back the laugh I feel threatening to burst out and bite my lip. "Are you serious? Newsflash, Football Head, we _are _a couple of horny teenagers."

He lets out a sigh and looks at me, silently asking me to be serious. He should know by now that I can't take him seriously when we are making out at school. "I'm just tired of hiding, Helga."

His pleading tone gets to me, and I feel my heart sink. I feel my gushy side rise up, and that's always a bad thing whenever I'm with him. But then again, the only time my gushy side comes out is when I'm with him. I meet his soft eyes, that even in the darkness of our closet seem to sparkle with his gentle and loving nature. "Listen Babe," I say, running my fingers through his soft hair, enjoying how soft it feels, and knowing how it makes him feel, "if we were to go public, they would tear us apart. The rumors would start, and then people start acting differently around us, and then the stupid cheerleaders start telling people how you're only going out with me out of pity, and..." My mind whirls from the endless possibilities that the savages of this school could use to tear us apart. My eyes fall to the narrow space between us, his hands still holding me up against the wall he shoved me against. He knows I'm a natural born pessimist, why does he always have to make me show it?

I feel his soft lips touch mine, kissing my worries and fears away like he always does. Sure, I love it when he's aggressive and primal when he kisses me, but it's times when he's slowly working his lips against mine, reassuring me that he's actually there and not going anywhere when I love him the most. He lips make one more run against mine, and he pulls back, looking into my eyes again. "I have a few hours before my sectional this afternoon. Why don't we go see a movie?"

I raise my brow, intrigued by his offer. "One of those cheap, foreign black and white movies, where it's two hours of some douche bag pointing a camera at a plastic bag floating around in an empty parking lot?"

"Mhm," He hums, smirking up at me, "but we're not sneaking in." He tells me seriously.

"Oh come _on, _Arnold! That's the only thing I was looking forward too!" I quietly whine, my legs still around his waist and my arms lazily draped over his shoulders. He cocks his head off to one side, giving me one of his looks and I roll my eyes. "Alright. I _guess_ having you there won't be half bad." I say with a smile. Oh great, my gushy side is coming out again. And from the look he's giving me, he won't let me leave till I say it.

"Say it." Damn it.

"Do you want me to walk out of hear looking like a doped up idiot?" If he makes me say it, then he'll say it back and I won't be able to wipe the smile off my face all freaking day.

"You know you want to."

"You're killing me right now, I hope you know that."

"Just say it, I have a test next period and it will make me feel better."

I sigh, my heart melting inside of my chest at his pleading with me. He's going to pay for this later. Despite my annoyance, I can't help but smile at him softly and run my fingers through his hair again, "I love you."

I see his teeth gleam, and he leans up to kiss me. He pulls back after I giggle against his lips. "I love you too, Helga."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm honestly surprised at the amount of follows and reviews I got. I was a little worried at my ability to write in first person, but I'm really glad you guys liked it. Thanks for the never ending support! :)**

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><p>"Alright guys..." I say. I'm never loud enough on the first try. "Guys." I say again after a moment. The chatter and jokes are still going on, and I'm starting to get irritated, mostly at Matt for just standing there. He may not be section leader, but he's still a senior and should act like it. "Guys!" I shout. Finally, everybody is quiet. "Alright, good job today, mostly. Just make sure that you keep your horn angles in mind. We're doing a great job, but our first competition is this Saturday, so we need to step it up, okay?" I wait for everyone to make some notion of understanding and agreement, and the underclassmen nod seriously, while James and Matt avoid looking at me. They're upperclassmen, they understand all this I guess. "Alright, bring it in."<p>

I lean forward in the circle and put my hand in the center, and the others pile theirs on top of it. "On three. One, two, three-"

"_Kats!" _Everybody shouts.

We all turn to head back to the band room and I start pulling out my mouth piece. I really like being section leader. It gives me confidence, especially when I was chosen over a senior, and two other juniors. We have about seven freshmen in our section, and one sophomore, making our section the largest section in the band. But it also makes it the hardest to handle. And really, Matt should be helping me, but he was pretty mad when he wasn't chosen as section leader, but he should be over it by now.

I'm still making my way across the empty parking lot we use for rehearsal, on my way back to the band room to put away my trumpet when I hear someone call for me from behind. "Arnold?"

I stop and turn around with a smile. Emily is the only sophomore in our section, so it was a little hard for her last year, being the only freshman. Will and James were sophomores, so they weren't very helpful, but I decided to help her out with anything she was having trouble with. Emily walks up to me and stops a few feet away, looking down at her feet, holding her trumpet behind her back. "What's up, Emily?"

"Um..." She starts, still not looking up at me. I wonder why she's so nervous, we're friends. "I was wondering if... if you um..." She was never this nervous asking for my help before, I wonder what's changed. "If you wanted to hang out sometime?" She asks, and I feel my stomach drop. She's looking at me now, and I really wish she wasn't.

This isn't the first time this has happened since Helga and I have started dating. And all the other times, it wasn't that I would have to let them down and tell them no that worried me. It was that when I say no, I'm always afraid that they'll start rumors, about how I already have a girlfriend, or that I'm gay. It was actually Gerald who started that one. He said it as a joke, but I guess someone heard him and took him seriously. Oddly enough, it was that rumor that was the hardest to get to stop. The rumor that I have a secret girlfriend that goes to another school never seems to take off.

But this time, I'm worried about having to let Emily down. She's been a good friend to me, and I really don't want to disappoint her, but I love Helga too much to even consider going out with anybody else. "I'm uh..." I start, but break my sentence, still trying to figure out a way for it to end well, and still trying to come up with a reasonable excuse. "I'm sorry, Emily, but I uh... I can't." Emily's soft smile falls, and I already feel bad. How come Helga doesn't have a problem when guys ask her out? "It's just that it would look bad if I were to start a relationship with someone in my section. But you really are a good friend. I hope you understand."

She smiles back at me and nods, "Yeah, I understand. Don't worry about it." She says, waving her hand in front of me.

I never know what to say after they tell me they understand. I shuffle my feet, looking down at the ground. I don't want to just walk away. "So... friends?"

"Yeah, friends." She smiles. I smile back at her and turn to head back into the band room. After I put my trumpet back into my case and put it back on the shelf, I go back outside and dig out my car keys. The Packard has been acting up again lately. I don't know much about cars, but I really hope its nothing serious. I was just going to ask my dad when I get home.

Yeah, my parents are back in Hillwood. I really love having them here. I really loved getting to know them, and getting to see what they are like. They came back with some help from a friend during seventh grade. I never did meet him, but I guess I was just too caught up in having my parents back. They really are amazing parents.

We were kind of famous whenever they first got back. Some news crew from a national network came over and interviewed us. After that aired, everybody was pestering me, including Gerald, wanting me to get them on TV. I was just interviewed, I'm not a producer. The only person who didn't bug me about it was Helga. She just told me she was glad that I had my parents back. She was the only one I didn't mind telling how I felt about the whole situation. She was real easy to talk to. She always is. Well... when she wants to be, anyway.

I like to think that I've calmed her down over the years, especially since we've been together. But there's still some of that old school yard bully in her. But I love her for it. She's just so funny, and fun to be around, and warm, and exciting. We just connect so well with each other. We started bantering during our eight grade year, and I just fell for her, and I fell pretty hard. I'm pretty sure I'm still falling for her. There's not a single part of her that I don't love. I love everything there is to love about her. I love how she smells, how she acts when she's putting on the act so no one will know we're together, I love how she acts when we're just sitting quietly in my room watching movies on my computer.

We got together during a trip to the beach that a bunch of our friends organized over the summer between our freshmen and sophomore year. I can still remember that it was the first time I saw her let her hair down. She wouldn't let me take a picture of her, but I can still remember exactly how beautiful she looked that night. I couldn't sleep, and decided to go for a walk along the beach. I looked up and saw her standing at the waters edge, letting the tide hit her bare feet. She had on a pink bikini top, and had on a very thin, see through floral skirt tied around her waist that was blowing in the breeze. Her skin was so smooth, and she looked so beautiful that I couldn't hold the thought in.

That was the first time that I kissed her. We hadn't kissed each other since the forth grade, and even then, she was the one who kissed me. We've been together ever since, and I couldn't be more happier with anyone else than I am with her.

Well, I guess I could. But only because I don't want to hide our relationship anymore. I'm so sick of having to lie to people. Especially my parents. Gerald, I don't mind lying to, because I know what he would say if I told him that Helga and I are in love, and have been going out for a year and a half. He would either laugh in my face or feel betrayed because I didn't tell him to begin with. I'd like to think that he would understand why I had to lie to him, but I know he wouldn't.

But I really hate lying to my parents. Especially after Helga's and I's first time together over the summer on our one year anniversary. My parents don't know that I have a girlfriend, much less know that it's Helga. As far as they know, Helga and I are just friends who occasionally 'study' together. Although, I think I might have blown our cover when Grandpa told me I should ask her out at dinner one night a few weeks ago. I didn't exactly know how to respond to it, and I think Mom might have picked up on something. I thought I was a better liar than that.

I hate myself for thinking that though. It's the one thing that I'm not proud of when it comes to my relationship with Helga. Having to lie to people to keep our secret, I guess I've gotten better at coming up with excuses on the spot. I don't want to be good at lying, I'm afraid that I'll get so used to it that one day I'll lie to her, and not feel bad about it. I know, I sound like a total jerk, don't I?

But when I step back and look at what we have been through together, all the wonderful memories we've created together, all the fun we have together and how much I love her, I can't help but feel it's worth it.

Really, I wouldn't mind hiding our relationship if not for one thing, the other guys in school don't know that Helga's taken, so there's nothing to stop them from constantly hitting on her. Sure, other guys hitting on her is the thing that can bring out her old self the quickest, but I really hate being jealous. I know that I have nothing to be jealous about. She may seem to come off as nothing but a sarcastic pessimist with absolutely no tolerance for anyone, but there are times when we are alone that she brings out that other side of her. And she's told me time and time again that no one could ever take her away from me. I still remember her exact words that she said in my ear when we were laying in each others arms after our second time together, the time when it was much less awkward.

_"If they want me, they're going to have to pry me out of your cold, dead hands kicking and screaming." _

I feel a smile burst onto my face as I pull to a stop outside the boarding house. I know, it's not exactly the most romantic thing to say, but it's just so Helga. I step out of the Packard and close the door, twirling the key ring around my finger and jump up my stoop. I push open the front door while the usual stampede of animals runs past me. "Hey Honey, how was practice?" Mom asks me when I step into the kitchen.

"Alright," I say, opening the fridge to take out a soda, "Mrs. Hood is breathing down our necks for the competition this Saturday. She's adding another three hour practice every Thursday."

"I'm sure you'll do great." She says with a smile, walking past me and kissing me cheek briefly. "Oh, I can't believe I almost forgot. Helga stopped by just a little bit ago. She's upstairs waiting in your room."

I feel my chest pound at the news, my shoulders tensing. I stand rigidly leaning against the counter, and look over to Mom who was just making her way in front of the stove where she was making dinner. I'm still trying to figure out whether she knows about it or not. If she does, I honestly don't know how I would handle it. We've gotten so good at hiding it. "Really? Did she say why?"

"She said she had something to give you. I think it was something from Chemistry class." She tells me.

Chemistry is our code word. Last years was Biology. I think it's a bit ironic since Chemistry is the one class we have together. "Okay, thanks Mom." I turn and quickly walk out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Honey," She stops me just as I was out in the hall way. I stop and lean back into the kitchen. "Why don't you ask her to stay for dinner?"

"I'll ask, not promising anything though." I say and quickly jump up the stairs. I'm going to tell her that she was asked to dinner, but I'm not going to ask. I still have a nagging feeling that Mom knows about us, and is just inviting Helga to dinner so she doesn't lose track of the scent. The stairs up to my room at already pulled down and I open the door, my eyes quickly going to the couch, the couch that my girlfriend just sprang up from.

I close my door and step up to her and pull her in by the waist. "Hey Babe." I say, leaning forward and pressing my lips to hers, lingering a bit longer than I had initially intended to. I love kissing her.

She wraps her arms around my neck and leans back, flicking her long blonde hair over her shoulder. She knows what that does to me. There's only one other thing that makes me want her more, and I don't even want to think about it. I don't know if I could contain myself. "You're late."

"Yeah, I'm sorry. The sectional ran a bit later than I had intended it to. We were called out on Friday before the game during our run through, and Mrs. Hood is already pushing me to keep my section in line. And then..." I say on a sigh. I have to tell her, she always tells me when she gets asked out. "Emily asked me out."

"Who?" She asked, her tone light. She got mad the first few times I was asked out, but she since has found it funny to hear how it goes.

"You remember, she is the only sophomore in the section. I helped her out last year." I explain. I don't really expect her to remember, I never really talk about Emily to her, let alone any other girl... or guy for that matter.

She smiles her beautiful smile and I see her eyes go down to my lips. "I bet she just wants the section leader as arm candy."

"Well, she's out of luck. I'm your arm candy, and no one else's." Her bright smile turns into a grin, and I lean in and capture it. I feel my mind start to go blank and she runs her fingers up the back of my head and into my hair. Man, I love it when she runs her fingers through my hair. We kiss a bit longer and break apart, but still have our arms around each other. "So what are you doing here? You only use the code word if you need something."

"I did." She said simply. I wait for her explanation, but she never gives me one.

"And that is..." I prompt her.

"I needed to kiss you."

I smile and let out a small laugh. If she would let me, I would use the word 'lovers' to define our relationship, because calling her my girlfriend just seems so plain. She's so much more than that. Even though I can't call her anything to anyone else, to her, I call her the woman I love.

"Oh and Phoebe's going out with Gerald this weekend." She leans forward just after that and presses her lips to mine, silence whatever I was about to say. After a quick kiss I push her forward.

"She's what?" I ask, our bantering coming to a screeching halt.

She lets out a long sigh and her head falls forward. "Gerald asked her out after school today, and she said yes. She's going with him to a movie on Saturday."

Why wouldn't he tell me about this? I'm his best friend. Oh wait... I don't have any room to talk, really. "So... how do you feel about it?"

She nods her head off to the side and raised her brow, "What do you mean?"

"Well, Phoebe is your best friend, and I know how you feel about Gerald." I've always had the thought that it's because of Gerald that Helga feels the need to hide our relationship, and I can't help but agree with her whenever Helga seems to come up whenever Gerald and I are hanging out.

"If she wants to go out with that-"

"Helga..." I stop her. She can come up with the strangest things to call people, and she always saves her most insulting and most creative for Gerald. But despite everything, he is still my best friend.

She lets out another sigh, "If she wants to go out with him and see what he's really like, then I can't tell her not to."

"So, does that mean that we can tell her about us?" I hopefully ask, getting the same response I always get, the beginnings of a scowl.

"Why do you want to tell everybody about us all of the sudden?" She asked, pulling her arms out from around my shoulders. I miss her contact already, but I know I won't get it back until this fight is over.

"Helga, I'm just so tired of having to hide." I tell her, letting my hands fall from her hips. "I don't want to pretend anymore. I want to tell people how much I love you, and what it is I love about you. I want to tell everybody about you, Helga."

"You'll know how that would end, Arnold." She tells me seriously. "I don't want to go through all the rumors that would start. First it would be that I'm a pity date, then it's that I'm blackmailing you into going out with me, then it's that I'm pregnant after I got you so drunk and had my way with you. I don't want everybody knowing about us, and you need to understand that."

I sigh and look down at the carpet. I do understand, in a way. There's a part of her that's very sensitive, a scared part of her that I've tried to help her cope with. But I think it will always be there. "You're right." I tell her softly and take a step forward, pulling her back against me by the waist. "I'm sorry." I put my arms around her and hug her while she lets her head fall to my shoulder. I start turning her from side to side, soothing her worries away. I know that she's worried I might leave her because of all this, but the only thing I can do is tell her that I'm not going anywhere, and never will. I love her way too much to leave her.

She lifts her head off my shoulder and looks into my eyes. Man, her eyes are so gorgeous. "I lo-"

The sound of footsteps coming up the stairway startles us both, and I feel my heart start to pound.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Just so you guys know, I was the section leader of the trumpet section back in high school, and was chosen over two other seniors. Just a little part of myself I imparted to the story. :) **

**And a big hi-five for anyone who can tell me what KATS stands for. **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This story has gotten some awesome attention! And I'm really proud of myself because this is my first crack at first person. **

**In regards to KATS, there were a lot of good guesses. and some of you got the first two words right. **

**Kick  
>Ass<br>Trumpet  
>Section!<strong>

* * *

><p>Alright, no big deal. This has happened before, we've been interrupted before. I mean, come on, his dad walked in on us while he had his hand up my shirt before and it all worked out. But it's not me I'm worried about. Arnold is always a nervous wreck when we get interrupted, and he's already sweating bullets.<p>

The footsteps continue to get louder, and I have a feeling that it's his mom, judging that it sounds like heels climbing the stairs. I cast a glance over to my nervous boyfriend and see he has taken a generous step away from me. Like that will make her any less suspicious. I let out a sigh and stuff my hands in my pockets, not wanting to cross my arms out of the fear that I would come off as intolerant. After all, I really like his parents, more so than I do my own at least. Then again, it's not much of a competition. At least his parents can remember my name.

The door opens and Stella leans in with her usual soft smile. It always takes me aback how much her and Arnold look alike. "Hey kids, dinner's ready. You're welcome to stay, Helga, if Arnold forgot to ask."

I smile and shrug my shoulders, "Sure, Mariam probably didn't make anything anyway."

Stella's smile brightens, and I feel my own smile brighten back. There's just something about his mom's smile that is infectious. "Wonderful! I'll tell your father to set an extra place then."

She turned around and we both hear her head back down the stairs, leaving his door open a crack. I look over to him and he still has his innocent smile he put on for his mother, looking toward the door. Geez, can he look any more guilty? He waits till his mother's footsteps can't be heard to walk up and close the door as quietly as possible. He surprises me a bit when he turns around and sends me a glare. "Is there a reason you just agreed to stay for dinner?"

What the hell is he getting so angry for? "I'm hungry, Football Head, and I don't want to make my own dinner when I get home." There are more reasons I want to stay, like being with him, spending more time with him than I already do, which is a lot. And getting the sense of family, the feeling of togetherness I get whenever I'm interacting with his family that I never get when I'm at home.

"Helga, my mom is already suspicious about us. If you want to keep our secret a secret, then you having dinner with us isn't a very good idea." He says, taking a step toward me. He does look honestly worried, but it wasn't my idea that he keep our relationship from his parents. It was my idea that we keep our relationship from _my _parents. Bob still refers to the man I'm in love with as 'that little orphan boy', and it pisses me off more and more every time he says it.

I raise my brow and shift my weight, crossing my arms. And he knows by these combined actions that he's in for it. "You know, now I just want to stay for dinner to torture you."

"Helga-"

"Oh no." I say, uncrossing my arms and smirking devilishly at him. I'm suddenly feeling very playful, and with the kind of mood he's in now, he is in no mood to be played with, which makes it so much more tempting. I start to saunter up to him, putting a bit of swing in my hips on purpose. I may not think so, but he thinks I'm the sexiest thing put on this earth. "Can't you just picture it?" I say in a lowered voice, continuing to saunter up to him. He starts to step back, but I keep stalking toward him. "The sexual tension between us. The untempered desire you would have to reach over and squeeze my thigh." His back just hit the door, and I'm only a couple inches from him. It's only when his eyes go down to my chest that I know I have him. "The urge you'll have to... excuse yourself to run upstairs just because if you stay next to me any longer, you'll... have your way with me." I lift my fingers and begin to seductively walk them up his chest.

"Babe, if you keep talking like that, we'll never make it to dinner." He says to me. His husky and struggled tone turns me on so much more. I can even feel his hands shake as he fights to reach out and pull me in.

Now, the real fun begins. I take one more step into him, not even an inch from our fronts being flush, and push up on the balls of my feet and bring my lips just a hair away from his. "Then let's go." I say, my tone returning to normal. I swallow my laugh that rose and pull the door open, jumping down the steps in glee. It's always a hell of a lot of fun to play with him like that, especially when we end up tearing each others clothes off.

I'm not saying I have total power over him. There are times when the roles are reversed, and he knows that he can get me to do just about anything. And lord knows I've offered. That's the one thing that I'm afraid of Arnold's parents knowing. I don't want Bob and Mariam to know that I've been dating Arnold because either they won't care enough to do anything, or they'll think he's not good enough for me and threaten to send me to private school. But with Stella and Miles, I don't mind if they were to know that I'm dating Arnold, I just don't want them to know that we sleep together, and have been for about four and a half months now.

If it were up to me, I would mention that we are dating at dinner tonight, but I couldn't do that to Arnold. I may like to play with him and torture him every chance I can get, but I would never betray his trust. If he doesn't want his parents to know, then I'm not going to tell them. He cares enough for me to keep our secret from everybody else, despite his sudden wish for me to blab our business to everybody, so the least I could do is do the same thing with his parents.

But if there are two people I want to know how much I love him, it would be them. Although, I know I could never really do that. If I were to really tell them how much I love Arnold, and how much I cherish him, and how much I care for him, and how much I love him because he cares for me in return, I would be talking till the day I die. But most of all, I would want them to know that being with him as made me a better person. And the only way I can explain it is that I guess I want to feel like I'm worthy to be with him, so I try to better myself so I think that I am worthy of his never ending affections. Even though if I were to tell him that, he would say that he loves every single part of me, even the bitchy parts.

I step into the dining room with a soft, probably telling smile on my face, and the first set of eyes that I catch are Stella's, and she's smiling back at me warmly.

* * *

><p>I follow Helga out into the hallway, and feel a heavy weight lift off my shoulders. I thought dinner would be more stressful than it was. But Helga was her normal, pleasant self. And I don't mean her normal, bully self. She was actually very nice, and she was right about one thing. It was hard not to lean over and kiss her when I heard her laugh. I love it when she laughs. I pull the door open for her and follow her outside, closing the door behind me. "Well, that was better than expected." I say in a low voice, just in case someone is listening on the other side of the door, or through the window.<p>

I hear her let out a small giggle and turn around and place her hands on my chest. I put my hands low on her hips and start to tug her in while she's smiling up at me. I may be only an inch taller than her, but I like the fact that I'm taller than her, especially after all that torment in middle school when she found out my last name. Man, she had fun with that one. "I love seeing you so nervous."

"I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"Arnold, you're a lot easier to read than you think."

I lean back a little bit, feeling a bit insulted, especially when I'm supposed to be keeping our relationship a secret. I've been lying to everyone about us for a year and a half and she decides to tell me I'm easy to read _now? _"I am not." I say. I didn't mean it to come out that childish.

She smiles again and shrugs her shoulders, her hands still planted on my chest. "Maybe it's just my intuition then."

"You are the smartest person I've ever met."

Instead of fighting me on it, which she usually does when I give her such a compliment, she just shakes her head a bit and leans up to kiss me goodnight. I softly touch my lips to hers, fully intending to pull away after a second. But her hand just went to my jaw, and she just moved her head a little more to the side to deepen our kiss. God, I love kissing her.

I feel my back hit the door and we continue to lazily make out. I don't want her to leave for the night. I have half a mind to tell her to sneak back into my room through the fire escape, the other half of my mind is being otherwise occupied by her lips.

Eventually, we lose track of time. I don't know how long we've been standing on my stoop making out in broad daylight. Well, not really daylight. It's pretty dark, and only a small part of me is worried about her walking home in the dark, and I'm on the verge of offering to drive her home. I open my eyes and see her smiling softly at me, her eyes sparkling up at me, just like they always do. I smile back at her and weave my arms around her more to pull her into a hug. Her head lays against my chest, and her arms are around my waist. I don't want to let her go... ever. "I love you, Helga."

I hear her let out a small breath, probably a laugh, "I love you too, Football Head."

"You need a ride home?" I ask her when I cox her away from me, but I still have my arms around her.

"Nah, I'll be fine." I give her an obvious look. "You do know who I am, right?" She asks me, shoving her finger into her chest.

"Remind me again, I know we just made out for... however long we just made out for, but I don't think I ever caught your name." I say jokingly. Her brow goes into a straight line and I continue, "Text me when you get home?"

She sighs and her shoulders deflate, "Alright. Worry wart."

I lean down and kiss her again and say good night, watching as she bounces down the stoop and turns to walk home. I sigh and open the door and head back inside. I decide to walk into the kitchen to see if Mom needs any help with the dishes, just because I feel bad lying to her, and she had asked me help her out, but I told her I had to see Helga out. So I guess the least I could do is help do the last of the cleaning. I walk in and see Mom in front of the sink, humming to herself. She turns her head and smiles. "Hey Honey, I thought you were driving Helga home."

"I offered, but she said she can make it on her own. You know how she is." I say, grabbing the empty pot that is still sitting on the stove waiting to be washed.

She takes it from my hand, "Independent. She'd rather fail at doing something on her own than have to ask for help and succeed."

I laugh lightly. That's Helga. "Yeah."

There is a few minutes of silence when I move to her other side to dry. But all of the sudden, I hear a plate drop into the sink with a muffle clatter. I jump and see Mom turning to face me with one hand on her hip, the other on the counter. "I can't take this anymore." She says with a laugh.

I shake my head, trying to make sense of whatever it is she's talking about. "Huh?"

"Sweetie, spare me. Okay?"

"What are you talking about, Mom?"

Her brow lifts in astonishment and her mouth falls open a bit. I think it should be obvious what she's talking about, but I'm not getting it. "I swear, you are just as oblivious as your father." She says to me, looking away and shaking her head. "Arnold, I'm not blind okay. And you're starting to insult me." Her tone is light, but it sounds like she's giving me a lecture.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" I ask again. She still hasn't told me, and I'm feeling a mix of irritation and fear.

"Honey, I'm your mother. Did you really think you could hide your relationship with Helga for so long?"

I feel my stomach drop, and my heart stop cold in my chest. A million questions are swirling around in my head, but the thing that is the most confusing is that she's _smiling_. "Mom, I... we... I mean..." I can't form a full sentence. How long as she known? Has she known all along? Does she know that we sleep together? What is she going to do about it?

She raises her hand up to me and closes her eyes, "Calm down, sweetie. I just couldn't keep it in any more."

I let out a breath, that was hard to push out and turn around and brace myself against the counter. "How long have you known?" I look over to her and she's still smiling at me.

She shrugs lightly and looks back down into the sink. "A while now. I thought that I'd let you kids keep your secret, but after seeing how you looked at each other at dinner tonight, I just couldn't take you pretending anymore. You know, I don't know whether to be proud or disappointed that my son is a bad liar."

"Mom, you..." I start, but look around and see that we are alone. "You can't tell anyone."

She looks at me, and narrows her eyes to me, and I think I know what she's wondering. "Arnold, how long have you and Helga been dating?" She asks me, and her funny tone is gone. She's serious now.

I sigh, and I know that I can't lie now. I let out a heavy breath and look down to the floor. "A year and a half."

She gasps, and I feel really crappy. "A year and a half?! Arnold!"

"I'm sorry, Mom. It just... sort of happened. We were on that beach trip after freshman year, and I went for a walk on the beach one night, and I saw her standing there in the moonlight, and she was just so breathtaking, and I... I kissed her. The next morning, I kissed her again. And pretty soon, we were kissing each other in secret, then it turned into dating, but we never really lost the secret part. As far as I know... you're the only one besides Helga and I that knows about us."

I know that I'm on the verge of opening up to her, and spilling my guts to her completely. I've been holding so much in, wanting to tell the world about how much I love Helga, and how incredible a person she is, and now I have someone to tell it all to. "Arnold... sweetie... I had no idea." I feel her hand on my shoulder and after a moment, she starts to rub my upper arm. I feel a sense of warmth from her touch. Not the same warmth that I get from Helga though.

"We've been hiding it for so long that... it feels kind of nice to tell someone about it." It really does. It feels like she's taking the weight off my shoulders.

"So... a year and a half?" She asks me. I look over to her, and somehow, I just know what she's thinking. It was this part that I was dreading the most. And I think she knows what my answer to her question is when I meet her eyes. "Oh Honey, please tell me you used protection." She tells me, leaning in and whispering to me.

"Yes, Mom, we did. But, before we go any further, I just want you to know... it wasn't some drunken decision we made in the heat of the moment. We decided to be together because Helga and I are in love with each other. I mean, I've known her my whole life, but it feels like every time I see her in the morning, it's like I'm looking at the sunrise. You tell yourself that it's going to be beautiful, but it still takes your breath away when it comes." Man, I guess Helga's poetry has finally rubbed off on me. After a moment, I look over to Mom and see that she's smiling at me again.

"You really do love her, don't you?"

I feel myself smile with out telling myself to, "Probably more than I'll ever really know."


	4. Chapter 4

I know everyone complains about Mondays, but it's Tuesdays that I hate the most.

It's not the beginning of the week, but still, you get to the realization about a quarter way through the day that you still have four more days to drag your ass through. And it's not even school that I hate having to deal with, the school part isn't all that bad. It's the people I hate dealing with. I just want them all to go the hell away so I can be with the one person I want to be with forever.

Without them, we could be open, I could run up to him in the morning and jump up and wrap my legs around his waist just because I know he has the upper body strength of a feral cat and would fall to the ground. A part of me is telling me to just say screw them, because Arnold is the most important thing in the world to me and I don't really care who knows it, but them I shake my head of the thought and know that they could never understand.

I mean, he's one of the most popular guys in school, and I'm... well... I'm me. I'm the schools tomboy who most people think is a lesbian because of how I dress. Sure, I take the side of comfort over fashion any day and choose to wear clothes that are a bit baggy. I think I only have one skirt in my whole closet, which, as I recall, looks like a nuclear disaster. Ever since I started using my closet as an actual place to store my clothes instead of a means of worship, I can't help it. Even though I don't feel the need to build shrines to him anymore... all that much, it just doesn't seem right.

And yes, he knows about all of it. His reaction honestly surprised me, and I remember clearly how I was still trying to take myself away from the guard I put up when I told him about all of it, bracing myself for him telling me I should be in a patted cell with a cup of colorful pills. But he never did. I should have known really, I mean, he's Arnold. Whenever I showed him the last shrine I had built to him, he just looked at it and smiled and said that I had a talent for capturing his image.

That shrine was a few years old, and I only built it because I threw all of my old ones out one day in middle school. And it will be a day that will forever live in infamy. It was the day where Lila Sawyer actually said yes to Arnold's begging.

I know we've been together for a year and a half, and there's absolutely no end in sight, but still, the memory eats away at me. I don't remember ever feeling so broken than I did that day. I don't ever remember crying harder or longer than I did that day. Of course, Pheebs helped me out. And it was that day that we stopped using our stupid code word. I told her everything, and she tried to help me, but she never could understand. She's still my best friend though, because she's the only one that has ever tried to... besides Arnold, who understands me sometimes better than I do myself.

It's kinda cold out, but I'm still in my usual clothes. A pair of comfortable blue jeans I found at a thrift store and a plain colored t-shirt with my jacket over it. I've also decided to take a risk and wear his hat to school, or at least on my walk there. It's my little way of telling the world that Arnold is mine without them hearing me. He gave me his hat one day when we were sitting together in class our freshman year. I made a comment that I felt like I still had bed hair, and while I looked down to my desk, I felt him place his small hat on my head.

I still remember how I looked over and fell in love with him all over again. _"Keep it, it looks better on you anyway." _He said. I wish I could say the same to him when I gave him my bow, but after we had been dating a few months, we were sitting in his room and he pulled it out of a drawer that he had labeled himself as his 'Helga' drawer, and tied it into his hair, which was already starting to waft all to one side in the same smooth spikes. I took it out and tied it around his wrist. Again, my little way of telling the world that he's mine without anyone hearing me.

I'm coming up to school, so just like I always do, I dig out my phone and turn up my music, which luckily just decided to change to Anti-Nowhere League. I chuckle evilly at the thought of those idiot cheerleaders listening to some beauty queen whine about how she was never loved, and have them hearing music that sounds as angry as mine does. I don't think they even know music like mine exists.

I push my way through them, hoping that they heard the music blaring through my ear buds and wait until I'm in the hallway to shut it off. I decide to head straight to class from there. I'm probably the only person in this school who doesn't use their locker. Even Arnold uses his locker, his combo is 3-34-12.

I shake my head at all the minute details I seem to retain about my beloved boyfriend.

First period goes by smoothy, surprisingly enough, so I head out to second period. I catch Phoebe on her way in and smile. "Hey Pheebs." She looks over with her Algebra two book hugged against her sweater and smiles.

"Hi Helga." She says and lets me pass in front of her. I casually stroll over to my desk, but somethings off. I can feel someones eyes on me. It was then that I feel every muscle I have tense up at the realization that I still have Arnold's hat adorning my head. I force my eyes closed and take a deep breath, telling myself over and over again to play it cool. Phoebe is on her way to valedictorian, so if she catches even the slightest whiff of something being off with me, she'll chase it down like a bloodhound. I steel myself and let my backpack fall do the ground with a clattering thump and plop down into my desk indifferently.

I turn to face the front and put my first against my cheek, staring as blankly as I can toward the front, still feeling her eyes bore into me. "Um... Helga?"

I look over to her and raise my brow questioningly. Sure, I may seem calm and collected, but inside my head I feel my whole world unraveling at the seams.

She takes a pause and I see her eyes still on the little blue hat sitting on my head, and I would probably faint if she were to make the connection. "It's nothing... never mind." She says and turns to face the front again. I turn to mirror her and keep my indifferent expression facing the dry erase board. There's a small voice inside my head poking the back of my brain, and it's saying that I will have a bit of explaining to do when there aren't so many people around to hear the answers to Phoebe's questions. Something tells me I'll be getting a call tonight.

Second period ends, and Phoebe waves when she turns down the hall way. The next class is both my absolute favorite, and my absolute worst nightmare all wrapped up in one long, blissfully exciting hour. Chemistry.

I've always found it a bit ironic that Arnold and I have Chemistry together... and chemistry together. I always laugh at that joke. Sometimes, he's just so corny that it kills me. I walk down the semi-empty hallway and turn into the room. He's coming from across the school, so he's usually a bit later than I am to arrive. Dr. Morrison is a nice enough guy, for a teacher anyway. A bit shorter than I am, but then again, I'm five nine which I've always found kind of tall. Still the shortest one in my family though. He's from the south, and it shows in his accent.

I look over to the board and he has 'New seats' written in bold letters. I sigh and set my stuff down in the table that I was assigned a month and a half ago. This is one of the few classrooms that have tables, with two chairs to a table each instead of desks. I stare blankly toward the front until I see him saunter in. He catches my eye and pulls that soft smirk he's always wearing a bit farther back, his eyes softening toward me. Oh my god, he's so cute. He sits in his seat in the front left and a few minutes after me looking at the back of his adorably shaped head, Dr. Morrison walks to the front of the class.

"Alright, Y'all have new seats today. Everyone to the back." He says, waving us back toward the back of the class. We all gather our things and I move over to the side and hop up on the counter on the opposite side of him, but briefly chance a look in his direction, seeing his teal blue shirt loosely hug his body, while his plaid flannel shirt hung open with his sleeves rolled up. Ugh, he's killing me. "Okay, now, when I call your name, Helga, off the counter, come take your new seat."

Over a few chuckles, I roll my eyes and jump down. "Party Pooper." I say loud enough for everyone to hear me. He starts going through the list, naming pairs of people as he points to each table, and I'm starting to get a bit paranoid that he hasn't called my name yet. He steps up to the desk in the far back left of the classroom and looks down at his clipboard again. "And Arnold and Helga." Oh Fuck.

I feel my eyes widen and my heart skip. I swear, I don't know whether to give Morrison a hug or punch him in the face. I look over to Arnold and see him giving me a nervous smile. Dr. Morrison is just starting his lecture and I don't want to get yelled at today. I let out a silent sigh, in hopes to figure out how I feel about the situation, and move to sit in the right hand seat of the table, leaving Arnold to take the left. I pull out a notebook and my pen and write three words in bold, all capital letters, forcefully underlining it enough to where I almost rip the paper in half. It's small enough that it's only on one line, but I know he will see it.

I wait until I see him sit down out of the corner of my eye to nudge my notebook in his direction. I see him look at the what I had written. _'NOT A WORD!' _

He just smiles at me and pulls out his binder and opens to a new page, and starts writing. After a minute of watching his skinny fingers write, he moves his hand. _'I like your hat. It makes you look sexy.' _

My eyes widen again on their own accord, and I reach up and rip his hat from my head, stuffing it underneath me, looking around the room to see everyone's eyes still up front. I shot him a glare, hoping he will keep that mouth that I would love to have on mine shut. I've really got to stop thinking like this. Keep it up too much longer with him sitting next to me, and I won't be responsible for what will take place. I see Arnold writing in his binder again, and it's probably just taking notes, which I have decided to do as Dr. Morrison goes over his lecture. But after a minute, I see him nudge his binder in my direction. _'We have something to talk about.' _

I raise one side of my brow and look over to him from the side, so's to not draw attention and get called out in class for talking. God only knows what would happen if someone were to catch on because of this. I begin writing in my notebook and withdraw my hand after I'm done, _'About?' _

He starts writing again, and I see him pause and look toward the front as if he's actually concentrating before he looks down again and lifts his hand away, '_My mom knows.' _

I feel my breath hitch a bit, but not as much as I thought it would if this were ever to happen. I start writing my response out, and pause to look toward the front, mirroring his gesture to make it seem like we're actually taking notes, and pull my hand away when I'm done, '_How much?' _

I wait for him to start writing, but after I look over to his binder, and see that he hasn't written anything after a minute of waiting, I look up to him and see him giving me a look. I know that look. That look tells me that he said something stupid about us and that he's sorry. And if I'm reading it right, he told Stella everything... and I mean everything. Suppressing the urge to break it in half, I pick up my pen and start writing again, _'You are dead!' _

I close my eyes to try and wrangle in my run away anger and reach up and pinch the bridge of my nose. I can still feel him looking at me. I open my eyes and see Dr. Morrison busy writing something on the board and reach down and pick up my pen again, and begin writing. _'Your car during lunch.' _

I lift my hand away and look towards the front, and wait for a minute before I look over and see him smiling sadly at me. He's hurt. And it's that sad smile that I can ever stand to see him smile. I know when he's putting on a front for me, just so I don't yell at him anymore, and it's exactly he's doing now. And his sad smile is enough to make me feel like a worthless piece of crap. What am I doing? Stella is a very smart woman, and it's not like he's the only one at fault for her finding out. That stupid smile I had plastered on my face when I met her eyes last night during dinner was kind of telling. And she may have just picked up the whole story.

But I guess it's not all bad. And if Arnold has been one thing that we've been feeling mutually besides our loves, it's that I want to tell everybody about him. But everybody already knows the side of him that I love. But then again, that's just it. That side of him is him. There's not any other side to him. He's always sweet, and kind, and caring, and loving... and cute, and playful, and hot. I shake my head as my thoughts go to his looks that, as always, make me crazy. I look over again and see he's still wearing that sad smile. Usually, I would softly cup his face and pull him down to me and kiss him softly, then start weaving my fingers through his hair. But I can't do that here.

I know what I can do though. I smile softly as the thought comes to mind and reach down, pulling out his hat that I have been sitting on. I push out the crumpled top and bend the bill a bit and place it back on top of my head. I look over to him again and he's smiling a soft, thankful smile I see him look down towards his binder, and after a minute, he pulls his hand away. _'I don't know if I told you this before, but just in case I haven't, I'm so in love with you.' _

I bite back the emotional chuckle that I feel rising and look over to him again before I start mouthing the words 'me too' over to him. His smile brightens a bit and he looks forward. Class ends too quickly, but at the same time, not quickly enough and I start slowly gathering my things, waiting for everyone else to filter out so I have a chance to actually talk to Arnold before I head to my next class. I starts walking out and I follow behind him, falling into step with him when he turns down the hall way to head outside. Oh yeah, he has band next period.

He pushes the door open and holds it for me. I pass in front of him and wait for him to appear back at my side to start, but he beats me to it. "I'm sorry."

"How much did you tell her?"

"Really, I didn't tell her anything. She just picked it up on her own. She said that she knew that we have been dating for a while, but she was surprised when I told her how long we've been together. Then, she looked at me and just... picked it up. Like a sixth sense."

"So... get it over with." I say, bracing myself for it and but still feeling my heart start to shatter.

"Huh?" I hear him ask me. I look over and he looks honestly confused.

"Well, she obviously told you to break up with me, so..."

I see his hand reach up and grasp my forearm, pulling me to a stop. His look is telling me that he's genuinely hurt that I even mentioned it. "Why would you think that I would ever even think about breaking up with you, Babe?"

Oh man, he just called me by my favorite pet name. I feel my lips curl into a smile, but still look around to see if anyone is watching us. I look back up to him and soften my gaze.

"Helga, she didn't tell me to break up with you when she found out that we slept together." He began in a hushed tone, "She just wanted to make sure we were doing it safely. And I think I won her over when I explained to her just how I feel when I see you for the first time every morning."

I take a very small step toward him and wrap my finger around the lining of his pants pocket. "What'd you say?"

I hear him let out a breath of laughter just before the bell rings over our heads, but when I look up, he's unfazed, still gazing lovingly down a me. "I told her it's like waiting for the sunrise. I always tell myself how amazing and how beautiful you are every morning, but whenever I see you, even after all this time, you still manage to take my breath away."

I even feel tears start to pool at the bottom of my eye lids. Oh fuck it, for now, I don't care who sees us. I reach up and pull him down to me, smashing his soft, firm lips onto mine. He pushes my lips open and I feel his tongue slide against my teeth, while his hands are sliding over my sides. If we weren't at school, we'd probably end up making love. He kisses me one last time and we pull away. We are probably about five minutes late, but he has band, and they almost never care, and I have study hall next period. We still have our arms around each other and we are still gazing lovingly into each others eyes. "I love you so much, Arnold."

He smiles down at me, "There's something else." I raise my brow expectantly. I wonder what cheesy one liner he's going to through at me this time. "My mom wants to talk to you."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: This chapter turned out a lot longer than I originally planned, but I guess it will make up for how long I've been making you guys wait. **

**And some one you might be wondering about the plot I had summarized in the synopsis, and just to let you know, I'm getting to it. If you guys know my writing, you know that I always have a plan, and don't just go chapter by chapter. ;) **

**And for those of you following Can't See the Forest, I'm still working on that. I'm just splitting my time between these to stories, because this one seems to be garnering a lot more attention that I originally thought it would. So thanks for the never ending support! You guys keep my writing!**

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><p>Eventually, I make it to study hall and sit in my desk, taking out my scrap notebook to scribble in it for an hour. Usually, Mr. Vernon keeps us quiet, but he's out today, and we have a sub. Any other class would be great to have a sub in, but not this one. A substitute in this class means that the preppie girls who sit behind me will be squawking for the next hour, gossiping about other peoples lives because they can't seem to live their own.<p>

I start drawing an intricate drawing of the Flying Spaghetti Monster as Kathy and Charlotte start blabbing about the last date they went on, and I have no choice but to listen. Their words aren't really registering in my brain, they never do, but I still have to listen. Whenever I'm forced to listen to them, I usually silently mock them to myself, adding insults to the end of their sentences. Trying to make the best of a bad situation I guess.

"I swear, if I had my way, he'd be so gone." And if I had mine, you would be to, Bitch.

"Yeah, he's hot, but he's a jerk." I hear Charlotte say. She's practically filing her nails right in my ear, and it's giving me serious chills.

"You know who I want to go after?" How bout you go after a bullet in the head?

"Whose that?"

Kathy moans deeply, and I roll my eyes, wanting to turn around and slam her face in my text book. "Arnold Shortman."

I feel myself freeze at the mention of my beloved's name, but feel my fist clench tightly at the context his beautiful name is being used in. Now I really want to slam her face in my text book. Charlotte moans as Kathy did, as if my boyfriend is some piece of meat for them to salivate over. "Oh yeah." She says way too close to my ear. I am so close to beating this girl to death with her own feet. "I'd love to take him around the world."

I close my eyes and seethe as silently as I can, hoping to temper my fury a bit, but it did nothing but aggravate me even more. "You think I have a shot?" As much a chance as I have to be elected the pope.

"I don't know, I hear he already has a girlfriend." Damn straight he does.

"So? I just want to have fun." As much fun as my fist wants to have with your teeth?

"Still, I don't think he's into that kind of thing."

"Maybe I could... corrupt him." I hear Kathy say with evil in her tone. If my Arnold could be corrupted, he wouldn't be my Arnold. That's just one thing I love about him. His spirit and compassion are so unshakable, no one could ever tear him down.

"Maybe." Charlotte says while she keeps filing her nails. "He would be worth the trouble. I can only imagine what he's like in bed." I feel my heart sting for some reason. It's just my insecurity, and I know it. He knows that a part of me is always afraid that he will leave me because I'm too much trouble, that my problems far out weigh my strengths, that he would be much happier with someone like Charlotte, or even Kathy. Someone who wouldn't be afraid to walk down the hall while she held his hand. I feel my heart sting sharper than last time at the image that just flashed in my mind. I know he's in band right now, but I don't care. I dig out my phone as the conversation continues behind me.

"He's probably a virgin. But what I would give to take his innocence." I push my heart back down to its place and out of my throat as my thumb works across the screen, asking him to meet me in his car during lunch.

"You should ask him out." With that, a tight mixture of anger and fear quickly take me over, and it's all I can do to keep quiet and my shoes out of their ass holes.

"He is in my sixth period. Okay, I'll do it." Suddenly, I forcefully stand up from my desk and walk out the door.

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><p>It was about an hour after school that I find myself walking toward his house. He's in rehearsal this afternoon until six, and he said that Stella wanted to talk to me, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what she wants to talk about. She wants to talk about my ripping their little boys virginity away.<p>

It seems that whenever I start feeling scared and insecure, I fall more and more in love with him than I was before. We met up in his car during lunch and I told him what those stupid preppies were saying about him, and he just pulled me in his arms and kissed my hair. _'They can talk until their blue in the face, but they're never going to take me away from you. I love you too much for that to happen, Babe.' _I wanted to have a quickie, but he argued that we only had ten minutes left for lunch at the time.

But still, the thought of someone else getting to touch him, hold him, kiss him, it kills me. I would rather have a literal knife stuck in my chest than have to live through getting to see someone else receive his affection. And I guess he knows that I'm a bit insecure at times, and I need him to lift me back up. He would have to know that I'm a bit emotionally needy when he signed up to be my boyfriend. And I guess that he knows this, and accepts it, and I'd like to think that he loves me more for it, and loves the fact that I'd never openly admit to being emotionally needy or insecure, even though I sometimes show it pretty blatantly.

I'm brought out of my thoughts when I catch the sight of the red bricks that make up his home, and I suddenly feel very nervous. I take a deep breath as I continue toward his stoop and jump up the steps. I take on last breath, forcing the knot out of my gut and tap my knuckle against the large green door. After a few moments, his dad pulls the door open with a smile. "Hey there, Helga."

"Hi, Mr. Shortman." I say with a smile back at him.

"Arnold's actually at band practice tonight." He says, rubbing the back of his head.

"Actually, I-"

"Don't be rude, Honey." I hear Stella's voice come from inside the boarding house, then after a moment, I see her drift in from the other room. "Invite the girl in." She says to him and waves me in. Miles smiles over to her and steps aside. "You know you are always more than welcome here, sweetie." She says with a warm smile. God, he has such awesome parents. Stella steps up to me after I take a few nervous steps inside and places her hand on my shoulder, still smiling over at me. "How are you today, Helga?"

I shrug, trying my hardest to come off as nonchalant. "Eh."

Her eyes narrow when she smiles. She looks over my shoulder and I turn to follow her eyes, "Miles, Honey, can you make us some tea?"

"Sure, Hun." He says and steps up to her and kisses her cheek as he passes her on his way to the kitchen.

Stella's eyes follow him until he turns the corner and is out of sight, and I feel a nervous sweat break out over me, making it suddenly very hot in here. Stella turns back around her smile falls, but it's still there. Subtle, but there nonetheless. And before I can stop myself, I'm spilling my guts. "Listen, Mrs. Shortman, I know that me and Arnold are both young, and we have hormones raging and all that, and that we should have waited until we're more mature, or even until we're married, but-"

"Helga," She stops me with a chuckle laced into her voice. I look back up to her after my eyes fell to the floorboards. "Come with me, I want to show you something." She turns and starts up the stairs and I follow closely behind her. She stays silent as we make our way down the hall and into their bedroom. She leaves the door open, and I hesitate for a second before creeping my way in. I was never comfortable in a parents bedroom. She turns on the lamp on the dresser and nods her head off to the side, gesturing for me to come over to her.

I step up to her side slowly and see her holding a picture in her hands. "I want to try and explain something to you, Helga. Now, you are a very bright young woman, so I'm sure you'll understand... or at least try your best."

I nod my head seriously, "Okay."

She sighs and her eyes fall back down to the frame she has in her hands. I can't see what it's a picture of from the glare of the light though. "It's no secret that Miles and I were gone for a very long time. I mean, we were on sixty minutes." She says with another chuckle. "But what most people don't realize is this." She hands me the picture she was holding, and I see that it's a picture of a baby boy, a sky blue shirt and a diaper, sitting on a blanket surrounded by toys. I can tell right away from the fanned out hair and adorably shaped head that its a baby picture of Arnold.

"He was so cute." I say without thinking.

I hear Stella let out a breath of a chuckle, "Yeah he was. Now, I want you to try and imagine yourself as a mother, and you have a beautiful baby boy. And you blink. Then, he goes from this," She taps her finger against the frame in my hands, "to this." She hands me another frame, and it's a picture of him at our eight grade graduation. I think I know what she's getting at.

I look up to her and she's still smiling softly over to me.

"When Miles and I left, he wasn't even crawling yet. But when we came back, he was this... teenager. Miles and I missed our own son's entire life. We missed his first steps, his first words, potty training him. We missed everything. We didn't get to see him grow up. We had to be told everything that he went through. Miles and I are still finding out things about our own son to this day." She says to me. It sounds like she's pleading with me, but I understand what she's saying. "What I'm saying is that Miles and I, or at least just me, I guess I'm still wanting that little baby boy back. And it's been hard for me to cope with the fact that my little baby boy is a teenager now, and he's reaching milestones that I'm not ready for."

"So..."I nervously begin, "You aren't mad that Arnold and I..."

She smiles at me again after I trail off, "No, sweetie, we're not mad. While we're still his parents, we still know what it's like to be in love. And I may have been gone a while, but I still know the look of someone in love when I see it. And you, my dear, are in love."

I feel a smile split across my face and let my head fall forward. "Stella, I just want you to know..." I look back up to her, and she's still smiling with her brow raised in question, "I know that Arnold has told you how he feels about me, but I think it would mean a lot more coming from me if I told you that... I've been madly in love with your son since the day I saw him. So, what I'm saying is I've loved Arnold pretty much my entire life. I mean, I could talk your ear off trying to tell you just how much I love him. But when we... first had sex," I shiver at my use of the term in front of her, "we talked it through, and made sure that we were both very serious and both very ready before we did anything. Actually... I think he was more scared than I was."

"Helga, that's saying quite a lot. Because I know how scary your first time can be." She says, putting her hand back on my shoulder in a motion of never ending comfort. In a twisted way, I really wish she was my own mother.

"No, he was very sweet, and very caring, and very patient. He never pressured me at all, never even brought it up, now that I think about it."

Stella's smile softens a bit as she looks away from me. "Helga, if I may, Arnold told me that, since I know about you two, I'm the only one that knows you're together other than yourselves." For some reason, I feel a mixture of shame and fear claw at my throat. "Is that true?"

I open my mouth to try and explain myself reasonably well, but I just choke on my words, not knowing how to. I let out a heavy breath, admitting defeat in a way. "Yeah," I say, turning around and leaning back against the dresser, "you're the first to find out about us so far."

"Why are you hiding your relationship, Helga?" She asks me, she sounds surprised that someone like me would feel the need to hide, but I guess it's my turn to help her understand.

"Because I'm... me, and he's Arnold. I'm the schools tomboy, and he's the section leader of the trumpet section in the schools marching band. If people were to find out that the most popular guy in school is dating _me, _it..."

"Helga, who cares what others think?"

I do.

"Why?"

My eyes bulge and another nervous sweat breaks out over my skin. I thought I kept that thought inside. This woman is worse than Bliss. I look over to her, but don't turn my head, and I can see that she is looking at me worriedly. And with the look in her eyes, noticing that Arnold has his mother's eyes, I feel my wall crack. "Because they can never understand. My own parents can't understand my love for him, so how could anybody else? I'm always hearing all these other girls say how they would 'take him around the world', like he's some object for them to use, so what would they do if they found out that I'm dating him, and have been for a year and a half, and have been in love with him since pre-k? They would say what I did to him to force him into a relationship with me, the school's she-beast. They would poke fun of us, and start talking about us behind our backs, saying that I'm pregnant after I drugged him and had my way with him, or say that I'm blackmailing him, and then before I could stop it, the only good thing in my life would be gone."

I tried to fight the emotion that my voice was showing during my schpeel, but I just now realized that my eyes feel flooded. I wish he was here to hold me. He wouldn't have a problem with me burying my face in the soft fabric of his shirt and letting it out. I know he hates to see me cry, and would do anything in his power to make me feel better. And I'm telling myself to just shut up and try and focus on regaining my composure so I don't humiliate myself any further in front of the one other woman besides Bliss that actually has my respect, but everything that I've been holding inside is boiling in my system, and it wants to escape.

"He was like my life jacket during elementary and middle school, keeping afloat with nothing more than just his existence. And now, he's the only reason I have to keep fighting against this judgmental world I live in with uncaring and oblivious parents and little miss perfect as an older sister. He's the only thing that makes my life worth something, and I know it's selfish and unhealthy to keep it all to myself and to keep our love hidden, but I know with out a single doubt in my mind that if people were to find out about us, they would tear us apart if it were the last thing they do, because they would like nothing more than to watch as the edge of the cliff I'm clinging to crumbles between my fingers."

I'm not sobbing uncontrollably, yet anyway, but I still feel the cold tears roll down my cheeks. I reach up and swipe away one side with my palm and will the rest of them away. I would give anything for it to be him standing next to me instead of his mother. But if it can't be him, I'm glad that it's her. She's understanding. I figured out a long time ago that he gets a lot of who he is from his mother.

I feel a soft pressure being pressed against my shoulder blade, and it's warm. Not the same warmth I get from Arnold, but still very comforting. "Helga... Sweetie, I had no idea you felt this way." She says softly. I want to continue in spilling my guts, but I put the cork back on the bottle I had my emotions in. "Have you told any of this to Arnold? Because it's not healthy to hold all of this in."

I sniffle from the congestion my crying had caused, and continue, "Yeah... he knows. I can't count the number of times I've told him all this. I'm just... I'm just so afraid that one day he'll get so sick of having to pull me back up that he'll move on and find someone who isn't afraid to look the world in the eye and say 'bring it on, I can take it'. He deserves someone like that, after all. Not someone like me, who pulls him into the closet I keep hiding in, too afraid to let the world outside see the weakness of my emotions."

"Helga," She says, almost reassuringly and steps in front of me, reaching down to take my hands in hers, "a love like yours is _not _a weakness. If anything, I'd say that your love for my son has made both of you stronger. And I've seen the way he looks at you, when he thinks that no one is looking, including you. It's the same way Phillip looks at Gertie, and the same way I see Miles look at me."

"How's that?"

"Like you're the most precious thing in the world to him, which I'm sure you are."

I feel a smile burst through, feeling the love I feel for him fill my system, overcoming the turmoil of my insecurity.

"What I'm saying is that Arnold will not leave you. I think he gets a sense of pride when he gets to hold you and tell you everything is going to be alright, a sense of fulfillment. All men feel the need to be needed to some capacity, Sweetie. So, try not to be so scared that he'll leave you for someone else, because I know for a fact that he won't."

I have no clue what just came over me, but I feel myself being pulled toward her. I step forward and wrap my arms around her, and I'm even more surprised when I feel her return my hug. After a long moment, I step back and she's still smiling at me. I avert my eyes down to the carpet, feeling embarrassed, and run my fingers over my ear to replace a few imaginary strands of out of place hair. The air between us just turned awkward, and I have no clue what to say to her to make it go away. I basically broke down in front of a woman whose more of a mother to me than my own, and it's a bit of a scary thought, especially when she might tell Arnold. It's a frightening thought, even though I know he already knows all of this.

I'm brought out of my thoughts by the sound of a familiar stride coming down the hall. I feel my heartbeat go light and jumpy and quickly take a large step over to the door and pull it open, poking my head out into the hall way. I smile at the sight of him in his black gym shorts and red band shirt. He's looking down at something in his hands, and I can't really tell what it is, but right now, I don't care. I'm just so happy to see him.

I quickly run out the door of his parents bedroom, catching his attention by the sound of my loud footsteps coming down the hall. I see his eyes widen a bit and he quickly shoves whatever he was looking at behind him. I know I should care what it is he's hiding, but right now, I don't care what it is. I just want to feel him hug me. When I throw my arms around him, I feel joy burst through my veins, especially when I feel his arms go around my midsection, coiling around me and keeping me hugged against him. "Hey." He half whispers in my ear.

I pull back and move my hands from around his shoulders to the sides of his neck, seeing him smirk down at me lovingly. So that's the look that Stella was talking about. My breath is already jumpy, and I can't keep it in anymore. I pull him down to me and smash his lips against mine, kissing him passionately. I wish there was a way to tell him I love him and kiss him at the same time.

I'm about to force his lips open so I can feel his tongue on mine, but I feel his hands push against my sides. The fuzz in my brain quickly shakes away and I see him looking past me, his eyes wide, his lips already puffy. "Hi Mom." He says, smiling an innocent, but all too telling smile.

I look over my shoulder, my hands still on his neck and see Stella smiling at us. She walks out of her bedroom and moves around us with nothing more than a light pat on her son's shoulder and a warm smile. He looks back to me confused. "I told her."

"Told her what?"

I shrug and move my arms back around his neck. "Everything. I felt good actually."

"Oh." He says with a slow nod. I think he's wondering what exactly 'everything' is.

"You're mom's actually very understanding."

"She is?" He asks me, sounding surprised. I thought he knew. I mean, she's his mother. I smile and nod. "So, she doesn't have a problem with us... you know."

"Having sex?" I say blatantly, already knowing what he meant, but just wanting to see him wince when I say it, which he did. "No, not at all. It was kind of surprising, actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she said that she remembers what it's like to be young and in love. And I told her what it was like for us, that we didn't just start making out one day and it got out of hand. I told her that we actually talked it out, and made sure that we were both ready." His lips just turned into a soft smile, and I give into the urge and pet his hair back, seeing his eyes soften even more than they already were. "And I told her how caring, and how considerate you were, about how you didn't pressure me at all, and how loving you were." I keep petting his hair with every pause I take, enjoying that it feels sweat stained.

"You're amazing, you know that?"

"It's nice to be reminded every once in a while." I wrap my arms back around his neck and lay my head down on his shoulder.

"So, does this mean that we can stop hiding. Just around my parents?"

I let out a deep breath and burrow myself deeper into his loving embrace. "Just around your parents."


	6. Chapter 6

"Band, Aten- _hut!_"

"_ONE_!" I shout, going to a strong attention set. I'm pretty proud of how myself, and of how my section did tonight. I feel pretty pumped right now, but I push it down to keep my attention position strong.

"Alright," Mrs. Hood begins over to speaker from her place on the hill in front of the practice lot, "our first competition is this Saturday. You all need to be here at seven, _sharp! _ We have a two hour practice and a run through. Leadership, you guys decide if your sections are doing sectional breakfasts or not. Dismissed."

Everybody in the band relaxed, including myself. I hear everybody else in leadership calling their sections over to meet and discuss the competition, and I turn around to do the same. "Kats! Top of the hill!" I call out and start jogging up the hill for our meeting before we go. I'm the first to reach the top and turn around, waiting for everybody else to arrive. But I see Matt and James starting toward the band room. "Matt!" I yell. I'm getting really sick of his attitude.

He turns around and looks at me, but he doesn't stop. At this point, everybody else is waiting for me to start, and I'm waiting for the upperclassmen to start acting like upperclassmen. I see James turn around and start jogging up the hill, and Matt stops. He glares up at me, but starts up the hill anyway. I'm so sick of him.

"Okay, good job everybody. Just remember to think of your sets. I mean, I can't speak for everybody else, but when I'm sitting in class, not doing anything, I'm going through the show in my head, going over my spots and where I need to be." I hear a small scoff come from the other side of the circle, but ignore it.

"Are we doing sectional breakfast?" Will asks me with a smile. I look over to him and shrug.

"I don't know. What do you guys think?" There seems to be a general understanding that everybody wants to do a sectional breakfast. A part of me was hoping not to so I didn't have to get up any earlier on a Saturday, but it will be nice to sit and relax and have fun with my section before things get serious. "Alright, I'll let you guys decide where we go. Work it out amongst yourselves and give me your answer tomorrow. Bring it in."

Everybody puts their hands on top of mine in the middle of the circle, and we all shouts KATS. I'm feeling pretty good about everything until I see Matt roll his eyes when he turns to head down the hill. "Hey Matt." I call after him.

He turns around, giving me a smile. Something tells me he's not being honest by smiling. "Yes, Arnold?" He says to me. What's with that tone?

"What's your problem?" I ask him, crossing my arms and shrugging.

"No problem." I says and turns around.

"Give me a break, Matt." He stops and turns back around, giving me a hard glare. "You and James are both seniors, and you need to start acting like it."

"Hey man, you listen-"

"No, you listen!" I raise my voice. I'm so fed up with him and his sour attitude. "Just because I was made section leader over you doesn't give you the right to start acting like you don't know or don't care what's going on. If your upset about Mrs. Hood making me section leader over you, the only thing your doing is proving to everyone that they made the right decision. So do us all a favor and cut the attitude."

I don't bother to go any further in my lecture and step around him and start for the band room. I let out a heavy sigh and run a hand through my hair. I put my horn away and grab my car keys from my case on my way out, along with my phone. I unlock it and see that Dad sent me a text during rehearsal, asking me to pick up Grandpa's prescription on my way home.

It isn't until I go to reply and see my conversation with Helga that I remember that she went to talk to Mom just a little while ago. I can't help but feel that it didn't go well. I let out another breath and push the door open to head outside and over to my car.

I fall into the driver seat of the Packard and close the door. I shove the key in the ignition, press down on the gas, and much to my relief, it starts. I let out another heavy breath and put it in reverse, and pull out of the parking lot of the school.

I wish I could say that I had faith in Mom not to yell and Helga about us lying to her about our relationship. But I don't. I know she asked me if Helga and I were doing it safely, and I know that I assured her that we were, every single time. But I know that a part of her is upset with us.

I was always dreading having to tell them. But I knew that it would have to happen eventually. I always knew my parents would find out, and I thought it would be nice if Helga and I would tell them together. But I don't know what Mom is saying to Helga, and I don't know what Helga is saying to her. I know Helga well enough to know that she isn't blabbing our intimate moments, making our entire private lives out to be Fifty Shades of Grey.

I know that, eventually, my parents will come to accept Helga's and I's having sex. I don't think they will anytime soon, but they will eventually. It was never my parents that I worry about. It's Helga's parents I worry about. They're nowhere near understanding at all. I know that deep down, they love and care for Helga just as much they do her older sister. I just wish they would tell her that.

Helga would be so much happier if her parents would just open themselves up and let themselves see what an amazing and incredible person their daughter is. But all they seem to see is Olga. And I know that my opinion is a tad biased, but I don't know what they see in Olga that they don't see in Helga. It sounds mean, but Helga is so much more, and is capable of so much more than Olga is. It just irks me that her parents, and everyone else for that matter, doesn't see what I see in Helga.

But what gets me the most is that _she _doesn't see it.

But no matter what we put each other through, or what we've been through together, I love her with all my heart. I don't think that could ever change, and I don't think I ever want it to. I smile to myself and an old version of Autumn Leaves comes on the radio and pull to a stop outside the pharmacy.

I walk inside and the lady smiles at me. "Name?"

"Shortman." I say just as I step up to the counter.

"Just a minute, I'll go and check if it's ready." The lady says and turns around and goes into the back.

I look around the store while I wait, looking through the candy on the rack below the counter. None of it seems as appealing as it did when I was a kid. I shake my head at the thought and look over to the rack of brochures. I go through them, just looking for something interesting, when one at the bottom catches my eye.

I pull it out, seeing the picture of a lush forest and beautiful blue lake. The top says Sanctuary Woods Inn in cursive lettering. This looks really, _really _nice. I probably couldn't afford to rent out their broom closet though. I chuckle at my own joke and flip it open.

I feel my jaw go slack when I see their prices though. It's actually really affordable. I could so afford a weekend here.

A bedroom with a queen size bed, bathroom attached, _and _a deck overlooking Washington forest? Breakfast included in the price. Man, this is amazing. "Here you are." Someone says to me.

I jump and look over to the woman behind the counter. "Oh… thank you." I say with a smile, the brochure still open in my hand. I grab the bag with my other hand and I'm really nervous to ask if I can take the brochure. "Um… can I take this?" I say, waving the brochure in front of me.

"Sure, that's why they're there." She says with a small chuckle. She turns back around and goes back into the back. I laugh at how easy that was and go back outside.

I climb back into the Packard and set Grandpa's meds on the passenger seat, looking back down to the brochure. Helga would go berserk if we went here. I bet no one would know us here. We wouldn't have to hid. We could be alone, and open, and affectionate with each other. We could wake up in each other's arms without having to worry about my parents walking in on us. We could do a lot of things without having to worry about my parents.

And after all, Thanksgiving break is coming up pretty soon. Just about a month, I think. We could go then. Sort of like an early birthday present for her. I still have some money left over from working over the summer, and now I'm really excited about this. I can't wait to tell Helga about this, but I want it to be a surprise too.

I wish I could just go pack a bag, pick her up and go now, but that's a bit unrealistic. But what I could do is call tonight and make the reservations. I smile and pull to a stop outside the boarding house. Man, I'm getting way too excited about this idea. I know Helga would love it, and I know that it will be so much fun. We could both use a vacation alone together.

I snatch Grandpa's meds and hop out of the car. I jump up the steps and open the door. "Arnold? That you, Short Man?" A familiar, raspy voice says from the other room.

"Yeah, it is, Grandpa." I say loudly and move to the living room. He's sitting in his chair with his feet up, like he usually is nowadays. "Got your meds, Grandpa."

"Aw, thanks, Arnold." He says with a smile. I hand him to bag and he pats my hand before I pull it away. "Helga showed up just a little bit ago, Short Man." He says while he pulls the bag open.

I feel my heart stop and a cold sweat break out over me. I completely forgot about that. "Thanks Grandpa." I say quickly and start out of the living room and up the stairs, but Dad catches me before I can dart up them.

"Hey son, how was rehearsal?" He asks me with a smile. If he knows that Helga and I have been lying to him, and have been sleeping together, why does he look so content about it?

"It was fine, Dad. Everybody's really excited about the competition on Saturday."

"You'll do great, I'm sure." He says to me with another smile. "Oh, Helga stopped by just a little bit ago. Can you go upstairs and tell her and your mother that their tea is ready?" I asks me and points his thumb up the stairs.

"Sure thing, Dad." I say suspiciously. He smiles brighter and pats me heavily on the shoulder and moves around me. I follow him until he walks into the living room. He's acting really cool after just finding out that I've been lying to him about my relationship with Helga.

I shake my head and move up the stairs and pull out the Sanctuary Woods Inn brochure from the seam of my gym shorts and look it over one more time. This place looks way too amazing to pass up. If this is the view from the deck of the room, that would be so beautiful. I hear a door open and her dart out of my parent's bedroom. Oh crap, she can't know about this now.

I quickly shove it back into the seam of my shorts so she won't see it, but she's already running toward me. She has that beautiful smile on her face, that unreserved, loving, gorgeous smile. She throws her arms around my neck, and I don't hesitate to throw my own around her small frame. It never ceases to amaze me how well our bodies fit together. "Hey." I whisper in her ear.

She grasps the sides of my neck with her small warm hands, and pulls back. Her eyes are so beautifully blue, I'd stare at them all day if she'd let me. Before I can react, she pulls me down to her and smashes her lips against mine. I can feel something in her kiss. It's more passionate than just a normal 'hello' kiss. But I'm not complaining.

But something's off. I pop my eyes open and feel myself freeze, but push Helga off of me at the same time when I see Mom's eyes on us. My mind is whirling with the fact that she's just smiling over at us, and Helga's hands are still on my neck, and my arms are still around her. "Hi Mom!" I say cheerfully, hoping to throw her off.

She simply shakes her head and moves around us, patting me on the arm when she passes us. I look back to the girl in my arms for something to do. "I told her." She says with a cool tone.

"Told her what?"

"Everything." She says with a calm shrug and moves her arms back around my neck. What exactly is everything? Like _everything _everything, or what?

I'm having a hard time believing that, if she does know everything, that Mom isn't mad about this. "So… she doesn't have a problem with us… you know."

"Having sex?" I shudder at her use of the intimate word in the hall with all the borders probably listening. "No, not at all. It was kind of surprising actually."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, she said that she remembers what it's like to be young and in love. And I told her what it was like for us, that we didn't just start making out one day and it got out of hand. I told her that we actually talked it out, and made sure that we were both ready." I remember that conversation so vividly. I was so nervous and scared, and I knew that it was a huge step for both of us. "And I told her how caring," she starts petting my hair back with her hand in a long, slow motion. God, I love it when she does that. "And how considerate you were, about how you didn't pressure me at all, and how loving you were."

"You're amazing, you know that?" I just want everyone to know the Helga that I do.

"It's nice to be reminded once in a while." She quips with a smile and puts her arms back around me, and lay her head down onto my shoulder this time. She's so warm.

"So, does this mean that we can stop hiding? Just around my parents?" I ask hopefully. I just want her to be in my arms, while there are other people around.

She sighs nuzzles herself into me, and I tighten my arms further around her. "Just around your parents."

I smile at our agreement and kiss her hair lightly. I feel so much for her right now. I can't help but feel that she's starting to come out of her shell that she only lets me through. "So, you need a ride home?"

She moans tiredly. She's getting a bit heavier in my arms, and I can tell that she's tired. "Can't I just stay here tonight? You said yourself that we can stop hiding." Her voice is getting more drawn out, and I have a feeling she's doing it on purpose.

"I don't know, Helga. It would just feel… weird." Really, I would love it if she were to sleep here tonight. I always sleep better with her in my arms. But I don't want her seeing the brochure I brought home. I don't even know if we're really going or not.

"Alright. I guess you can drive me home then."

"But…" I say, never passing up the opportunity to be charming, "I do have something in mind that I think you will love."

"Oh?" She says and leans back with a raised brow. "And what would that be?"

"It's a surprise."

"You know how I feel about surprises, Football Head."

I deflate at her bringing that up, "Helga, that was _one _time, okay? One time! I didn't know that gum really tasted like sweat! And I apologized, when it was Gerald's idea in the first place." She has a thing about that time in the sixth grade. It's always the first thing she brings up when we start to argue about something pointless that doesn't need to be argued over.

"Just tell me what it is and save me the trouble of having to find out myself." She tells me and gives me one of her deadpan stares.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not telling you until everything is ready. But I _promise _you, you're going to love it. I know you're going to love it."

She looks at me for a moment with narrowed eyes, and I can see that brilliant mind of hers starting to kick into gear. "What are you planning?" She asks me seriously.

"I told you, Babe, I'm not telling you until everything is ready. You know I never keep secrets from you. But I'm asking you, please, give me a few days. I'll tell you during the game on Friday."

She lets out a heavy sigh and puts her head back on my shoulder and I kiss her forehead again and lay my head down onto hers. Sometimes, it just catches me off guard how much I love this girl, how deep seeded it is, and how embedded she is in my system, twenty four hours of every day. And right now is one of those times. I press my lips to her hair again and start rubbing her back, gently coxing her out of the sleepy state she seems to have drifted off into.

"You ready for me to take you home now?"

"I'm ready for you to take me to bed." She says lazily and lays her head back down on my shoulder and closes her eyes again.

I chuckle and press her back again, "Come on, Babe. I'll drive you home."

* * *

><p>After I drive Helga home, and we quickly kiss each other goodbye for the night, so's to not draw any unwanted attention, I head back home and up to bed after a quick plate of pasta that Mom made. And now, sitting on my bed with my phone in my hand and a brochure in the other, I dial the number nervously and wait for someone to answer. "Sanctuary Woods Inn, this is Carol."<p>

"Hi Carol, my name is Arnold, and I was wondering if I could make a reservation to stay in one of your rooms." I say with my eyes on the prices they have listed.

"I'll be glad to help you out. When did you plan on coming down?"

"The last weekend in November, the weekend after Thanksgiving."

I hear the sound of a keyboard being typed on in the background before she continues, "We do in fact have a few rooms available then. All of our rooms are equipped with a full bathroom, queen sized bed, and an outside deck."

"Yes, I saw that in your brochure." I tell her, looking at the front again.

"Yes, the going price is as listed in the brochure, and it's a flat rate for a weekend. Could I have your last name?"

"Shortman."

"Alright Mr. Shortman, and how many?"

I smile to myself and pick up the picture strip that Helga and I took together at the hall last year, "Just two."

**A/N: Many of you have been asking of FTi happened at all in the back story, and I'll let you know in coming chapters :)**

**And I can tell that you guys are going to make me make this an amazing story. Thanks again for your support and your reviews.  
><strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: You all thought I let this story go, didn't you ;) **

**Nope, still going with it! I just haven't been able to write lately. Just started a new job and am working ten hour shifts a day. So updates on this, and Can't See the Forest are going to be a bit slow. Mainly reserved for the weekend. I'm going to try and get the next chapter of Can't See the Forest out by tomorrow night if I can. Thanks for the patience though.**

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><p><em>The sand feels rough and cold beneath my bare feet. I don't know why I decided to leave my shoes back at the house, but combined with the sound of the waves and the brisk breeze in the air, it feels nice. The moon is so pretty tonight. It's so big and bright. I can see everything clearly from the light.<br>_

_Oh my god. Who is that? _

_She's... she's gorgeous. _

_Her skin is so white and so pale, she looks like a ghost. But it still has a glow to it. Almost like porcelain. And that hair. It's so long and wavy and light, I'm pretty sure it's blonde, if not, it's made out of gold. Her figure is so small, but so softly refined. And that thin veil that she has tied around her waist makes her hair look like it's flowing even more. I don't think I've ever seen anything so beautiful in my entire life. _

_My heart is slamming and hammering more than I've ever felt, and it feels so hard to breath. But my feet seem to be moving because I can feel the waves move against my skin on them. I want to call out to this... this goddess, but I can't find my voice. Maybe it's because my mouth is so dry. God, this girl is absolutely gorgeous. But who is it? I would have recognized a girl this pretty before. _

_I close my mouth and clear my throat, but this massive lump is still there. And with that sound, she turns around. It can't be. "Helga?" _

_"Couldn't sleep either, Football Head?" _

_That's Helga!? She's so beautiful. How have I not ever noticed her eyes before, or her hair? She's always warn it up in pig tails up until this year when she started wearing it in a pony tail. "Um..." I force my eyes shut and shake my head, but when I open them again, she's even more beautiful than before I closed them. "No, I guess I couldn't." I say with a nervous chuckle. I've never been this nervous around her before. _

_I hear her sigh and she smiles at me softly. I don't want to look away from her, but she turns around and faces away and back toward the ocean. _

_"Helga," She turns back to me with her eyes seeming to bore into me, but pull me into her at the same time. "You're... you're so..."  
><em>

_I'm only a few feet away from her now, but I still can't find the right words. "Out with it, Football Head." She says and turns to face me. She isn't scowling at me, she's just looking at me with those big, beautiful eyes of hers. Oh my god, I can't look away. I've never felt this way before. She's so pretty. Even when she called me football head, it didn't sound like an insult like it did before. It sounded like an endearment almost. My heart is still slamming, and I know I'm sweating from the heated coolness on my skin. How can I be hot and cold at the same time? "Arnold?" She says to me. _

_I feel my breath hitch. She almost never calls me by my real name. I know that we've known each other pretty much our entire lives, but the thought that a girl this gorgeous knows my name makes my stomach all fluttery. I can feel my hands touching something so warm that it's almost burning. I look down and I want to slap myself. My hands somehow ended up on her bare sides. I look up to her, waiting for her to scream and push me into the water, but she doesn't. Instead, she just keeps looking up at me with those big blue eyes. _

_"I don't want to say anything stupid." _

_Well, that was pretty stupid, wasn't it? I want to run away, but I don't want to stop touching her. She's so soft and warm. Our eyes are locked, and I can't look away, but I can feel her put her hands on my shoulders. Then, she looks down a bit. I think she's looking at my lips. Her's look so warm and inviting. We haven't kissed each other since that day on that roof. Man, that seems like a life time ago. I wonder if she really was kidding. That kiss seemed pretty real to me. I wonder if she still feels that way. _

_I wonder if I could kiss her. _

_Before I can tell myself to move in, my lips are just a hair away from hers and I can feel her breath fan off of me. A second later, I feel her lips touch mine. It's so light, almost like we're not even really kissing, but still, it's so intense. My heart is pounding even more than it was when I first saw her. I feel her palms slide over the skin on my shoulder as her arms go around my neck, and it's not until then that I realize that I seem to be pulling her into me. I just can't contain myself. I want more. So, I deepen the kiss, and I'm surprised when she deepens it even more than I did. The only sound I can hear now is the sound of our lips. _

_Our kiss comes to a stop and I can't feel her lips on mine anymore. I open my eyes and see her pulling back, her lips still pouted out and her eyes closed with her brow raised. "That was incredible." I say. I'm not willing to let her out of my arms just yet. _

_"You kissed me." She says to me after she opens her beautiful eyes up to me again. _

_"I-I'm sorry." I stutter and take a small step back. _

_"You actually kissed me." She says with a smile bursting onto her face._ "You _actually kissed _me!" _She's so cute when she's excited. _

_"You're not mad?" _

_"Do it again!" _

_"Wha-" _

_"Kiss me again!" She says and bounces on the balls of her feet. How come she's never been this adorable before. _

_I smile and pull her into me again. _

I feel my eyes flutter open to nothing but darkness. Where's Helga? She was just here.

Oh... crap.

I love it, and hate it when I have that dream of our first kiss together. I love it because it's one of my favorite memories, and I hate it because whenever I have it, she's never with me. I look up to my alarm clock and see that it's just past eleven, and I haven't even been in bed for an hour and a half. Well, I'm not going back to sleep anytime soon. I guess I better sneak down to the kitchen and get some water to cool myself off.

I toss my covers off and start down the stairs and down the hallway, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"Stella, he's only seventeen, he's too young!" That sounds like Dad.

"Honey, he may only be seventeen, but he's very mature." That's Mom. She sounds a lot calmer than Dad does.

"Maturity has nothing to do with it, Stella! He's too young to be having sex!" Oh, crap. I feel myself stop in the hall. I feel like I just got punched in the stomach.

"Miles, you're not taking everything into consideration. I talked to Helga, and she said herself that her and Arnold sat down and talked about it. Arnold wanted to make sure that they were both ready before they did anything."

"And that makes it okay? Stella, this is our son!"

"Honey, this isn't any easier to accept for me than it is for you. I know it seems like he's too young because he had to grow up without us, but the reality is that he's getting to be an adult now. And you should know how much you Shortman men are hopeless romantics." I guess I am a bit of a hopeless romantic, but I fell in love with one too so, I guess it's not so bad.

"How can you be so calm about this, Stella?!"

"Because I know that him and Helga are going to find a way to be together, whether we like it or not. I think that if we tell them that he has to break up with her and never see her again that it will only make him want to be with her even more. And we both know Helga, Miles. She loves our son more than life itself, and I know this because she told me. Now, I don't like this any more than you do. But them being together intimately is going to happen whether we approve or not. And I think the best think to do is just talk to him and make sure to take it seriously. And I think that it would be best coming from his father."

Dad sighs loud enough for me to hear through the door and I hear him climb into bed. "I'm not ready for him to be so grown up, Stel."

I hear the bed creak a bit, "Neither am I, Honey."

* * *

><p>The next morning, I'm up bright and early. Well, maybe not bright, but early, before anyone else. Mainly because I found it difficult to get back to sleep from what I overheard Mom and Dad talking about last night. I never knew that they had a problem with my growing up. I guess I never thought about it.<p>

I pick up the spatula and lift the splatter screen from the frying pan and move the bacon around a bit so it doesn't burn then put the screen back on. After a minute, I hear someone walking into the kitchen, and I'm pretty sure it's Dad. He's always the first one up in the morning. I turn around and, sure enough, I see him shuffling into the kitchen with his robe loosely hung over his shoulders and a tired look on his face. "Morning Dad." I say happily.

"What are you doing up so early, Son?" I asks me and starts to shuffle toward the cupboard with the coffee cups in it.

"Just wanted to make you guys breakfast, that's all." I say and lift the screen and take the bacon out and put it on a small saucer and move over to the carton of eggs I took out a little bit ago.

"Listen... Arnold," Dad begins and steps up to my side. I knew this was coming, but I was hoping I wouldn't be so nervous about his reaction as I am. "You're mother and I have been talking, about you and Helga."

I stop scrambling the eggs in the bowl and turn to him. "I love her, Dad. She's the greatest and best thing that's ever happened to me and I never want to be with anyone else. And I know that you're going to say that we're too young, but we both knew what we were doing when we decided to be with each other. We both knew how big of a step it was, and we were both very serious about doing it safely. If you don't believe me, I can go up to my room and show you the box of condoms I have in my drawer." I honestly don't know what just came over me to stand up to him like that. He didn't even really say anything other than him and Mom have been talking.

"Son, we know that. And we trust you to make the smart choice when you and Helga..." He trails off and looks away. "But Arnold, I just want you to understand that you are both still very young."

"Grandma and Grandpa were younger than us when they were first together." I say quickly.

Dad leans back and gives me a pointed, confused look. "Who on earth told you that?"

"They did!"

Dad sighs and runs his hand through his hair and turns away.

"Dad, I know Helga and I may seem young, but I can try to tell you about the girl I knew in my freshman year who got pregnant and had to transfer out and start getting home schooled because she was getting so tormented by everyone, but I know that won't help my argument. I just want you to know that no matter how old I may get, I'll always be your son."

He smiles sadly to me and steps toward me and throws his arm over my shoulder and I put my arm around his back. "I know, Arnold."

"There is something I wanted to ask you though."

"Anything, Son."

I sigh and brace myself. "Helga is just... so amazing. She's so passionate and caring and smart, and I've never seen someone so beautiful, but... I don't want to hide her anymore."

"What do you mean?" He said and takes his arm from out around me and leans back against the counter.

"Well, we've been dating for a year and a half now, and it's been great. But we've been dating secretly. Not even Gerald knows that Helga and I are together. In fact, I think he still thinks I'm gay. But Helga seems to think that if everyone were to know that I love her, they would tear us apart. She's just so afraid of what other people think of her. But I don't care what other people may say. I know who she is and I know that I love her, and what other people think doesn't affect that at all. How do I get her to see how amazing she really is?"

He sighs heavily again and looks down to the ground. "I'm not sure, Son. But something tells me that it will have to be you to tell everyone that you're in love with her and that no one will ever change that. Once you do that, she may very well follow."

* * *

><p>We had just marched off the field from our show during half time. I think, overall, we did pretty well. I'm glad it's a home game this week. Having third quarter off is always better when it's a home game. And I have a promise to fulfill tonight.<p>

I quickly jog up to the stands and set my hat down on top of my horn and race through the crowd of people on the track, through the lines at the concession stand and out to the parking lot. She said that she would be waiting at my car, and I parked it in the most secluded part on purpose, just in case someone else had the idea of walking through the parking lot at this time.

My car comes into view, and I see her leaning against the passenger side door with her arms crossed. She has her hair down tonight. She's gotten even more beautiful than that summer night on the beach a year and a half ago. She turns her head and meets my eyes with one of her gorgeous smiles and pushes off the car. "Hey Babe." I say and wrap my arms around her.

She hugs me back and I keep my arms around her and lean back, and her arms go around my neck. "Have I ever told you how hot you are in your band uniform?"

"You've mentioned it a couple times." A couple times? She says that to me every time she sees me in my band uniform. She smiles a bit brighter and I lean down and capture it in a kiss. She pulls back and flicks her hair over her shoulder.

"So, what's this big surprise you have in store for me?"

"Promise me you'll keep an open mind?"

"Just saying that says to me that I'm not going to like this." She says with a deadpan stare.

I roll my eyes and take a step back, turning by back to face her. "Unzip me." I say, pointing to the zipper on my red band jacket. She sighed broadly and rips the zipper down and I pull my jacket off and toss it on the hood and pull the brochure out from the pocket of my black band pants. "Here."

One of her brows raises and she takes it from me. "What's this?"

"You're birthday present."

"My birthday isn't until March, Football Head." She says and waves the brochure around. She hasn't even opened it yet, and I'm feeling a bit let down at her reaction.

"Helga, just open it." She sighs again and flips open the brochure of the Sanctuary Woods Inn, at which I have already made reservations.

"Likes really nice." She says as she looks over the brochure.

"I'm glad you think so, because I made reservations for us for the weekend after Thanksgiving."

Her eyes go wide and she looks up to me. "What?"

"Yep. I saw the brochure when I was picking up Grandpa's meds the other day, and I called and made us reservations."

"But Arnold, I... we... you're talking about a trip to a secluded bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere."

She looks a bit scared, and this, I didn't expect. "Exactly." I say and pull her back to me. "Helga, I want to take you somewhere nice. Somewhere where we don't have to hide our relationship. Somewhere where no one knows us, where we can fall asleep together and not have to worry about our parents catching us. I want to do this for us... for you. Because I love you. Come on, Babe, we need a weekend away from everything, from everyone. Where it's just us, and no one else."

Her eyes are starting to get glossy and I see a smile returning to her lips.

"And I already paid for the room, so..." She lets out a watery chuckle and puts her arms back around me. "So what do you say?"

"I say..." She begins softly and starts petting my hair back, "I say I have the best boyfriend imaginable."

"And that boyfriend has the greatest girlfriend imaginable." I just wish that that girlfriend knew she was the greatest.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: As some of you may have noticed, if you've read my other stories, I've never written Arnold as the classic, oblivious Arnold that he is in the show. And if you're getting confused about the changing writing styles, remember that Helga and Arnold are two different people with two different ways of thinking and speaking, and to that end, I need to make it so you can tell whose POV you're reading simply by the way the character is being read as. **

**So, if you're wondering why Arnold's POV seems to be less poetic, and seems to have less symbolism that Helga's, thats because he's not as poetic and not as symbolic as his girlfriend. ;)**

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><p>I honestly don't know what I did to deserve someone like him, but I would rather not draw too much attention to it.<p>

He's taking me away to a secluded log cabin in the middle of nowhere. Oh, how I've dreamed of this. I already have it pictured in my head. He carries the luggage into the room after I told him I would take it, and he groans loudly as he sets it down onto the floor outside of the door at the end of the hall. Then he turns around and flashes me one of his beautiful smirks and pushes open the door and then he would lift me up into his arms as best he could and carry me over to the bed, and lay me down and then we start throwing each others clothes off in a fit of unstoppable passion that would end in us in a pile of heaving, sweaty, naked limbs.

In my head, there's a brick log fireplace and a large bearskin rug in front of it, and a small balcony over looking the lush forest. I have a vague idea of what the room actually looks like already, but still, I know I'll be thrilled when we get there either way, bearskin rug or not. I'm just surprised that the matter of our parents didn't come up when he was trying to talk me into it. Right, like my parents would give a shit. They'd have to know that I'm their daughter and actually have a blood relation to them first.

But his parents, I'm not so sure about. I know that Stella and I came to something close to an understanding on our physical relationship, and the fact that she cares enough about me to ask if I was serious about him being more scared than I was. But she never really said 'Hey, you can have sex with my son all you want'. But I tried my best to tell her how serious we are and how much I love him. But then there was that little segway I took when she asked me why we are hiding.

And his dad, I haven't even gotten his views on the whole thing. But I do understand what Stella was trying to say to me. It must have been hard for them to deal with coming back to a son that they left right before his first birthday, when he wasn't even walking yet and seeing him grown up. Parents are supposed to have an influence in your life, they're suppose to help you and shape you into the person that you are to become, but he did it all by himself, pretty much. Parents are suppose to know who you are, they're suppose to be able to know what you'd think of something, but they came back to a son that they had to get to know, that they weren't a part of at all.

I never really thought about it until she said something, but now that she helped me come to this realization, it must be pretty heartbreaking for them. But I guess if you look at my life in a photo album, it wouldn't exactly be a romantic comedy. Mariam's still drunk and Bob is still the same careless barbarian that everybody else knows and loves, and my sister is still the world's next mother freaking Teresa, perfect at absolutely everything she does but can't handle the harsh reality that is the world outside her report card.

And me? I'm just Helga Geraldine Pataki. The girl who wears skate shoes, cargo pants and doesn't even know what a blouse is. But for some crazy reason, there is a lighthouse in my fog coated life in the form of the greatest man that will ever walk the earth, named Arnold.

I wanted to go over to his place tonight and spend the night with him, but he has a competition in the morning to get up early for, and I won't see him all day. But Phoebe asked me to come over earlier this afternoon. Hey, as long as I have an excuse to get out of the house. I still have to go back for the night though, since Phoebe is out with Gerald.

I've tried to respect my love's friendship with Gerald, and I think that overall, I've done a pretty good job. But really, if you look at our situation, we should at least be civil with each other. I mean, he's the love of my life's best friend, and he's my best friends boyfriend as of the last week. But he stays away from me as best he can. If I'm being brutally honest I would say that it's his fault. After all, he's one of the school's coolest people, and he has pretty much the same opinion on me as the rest of the school, and he's not really as afraid to show it as he was back in grammar school. I think he caught on after a while that my threats never really carried that much weight behind them.

And I know that Arnold gave up trying to talk him into seeing the good in me, as he has trying to talk me into seeing the good in him. But no matter what Gerald and I may think of each other, what it all boils down to is that he's my love's best friend and I need to respect that. And it can't exactly work both ways because he would have to know about Arnold and me, which he doesn't, and if I were to have my way, never will.

I'm broke out of my thoughts by the sight of my house and I jump up the steps and open the door. Typical that Bob doesn't bother to lock the door. He didn't even give me a key, I had to get a copy made myself. It seems that no matter how heartwarming my thoughts are, whenever I walk through this door, it all fades until I get up to my room. I walk down the hall, passing the kitchen where I hear the blender going and the sound of Bob's stupid TV going. I quickly jump up the steps, hoping not to be here on the one blue moon that my parents actually want something from me and quickly make my way into my bedroom, closing the door firmly behind me.

I let out a deep breath trying to bring back thoughts of my beloved, which I know won't happen until I go over to my bed and reach under it to get the box of pictures and mementos that I've accumulated of us over the past year and a half.

I spend the rest of the lonely night slowly digging through the shoe box of our time together, gazing at each item, first the small stuffed animal I won him down at the fair before we were actually dating, then the ticket stubs of the first movie we snuck into to make out in, then the packet of pictures of us, taken from a disposable camera that we used up laying on his bed, just taking as many pictures in as many faces as we could. My favorite one is the one of us kissing. I love how his arm is curling me into him, and the way I seem to be giggling into the kiss, which I remember vividly I was.

I hug the picture to my chest and let out a loving sigh and fall down to my bed. I just love him so much.

* * *

><p><em>This trip was suppose to be our chance to finally break through this weird friend zone limbo we seem to be in. He was suppose to see that I am the only one who will ever truly love him, and that he's the only one that will ever love me. But we go home tomorrow, and that's that. We're back to school in a month and then the cliques will form again and the only time we'll ever see each other is when we slam into each other in the hall way. And while I will scream at him about how stupid he is, inside, my heart will crack when he apologizes and then shatter when he walks away. <em>

_I feel so embarrassed wearing this thing. I don't even know why I bought this stupid bikini. I'm not anything close to a super model, and I felt even more embarrassed wearing gym shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt to the beach this afternoon. But now, I feel almost naked... and a little cold. _

_Everyone else is asleep back at Rhonda's beach house. And the only reason I got invited was because I'm friends with Phoebe, who is friends with Rhonda, and everybody else for that matter. _

_I have a deep feeling that it's symbolic that the tide is washing away my footprints right as I leave them, but it's only logical. Tide goes in, and then it goes out, taking with it what it will and sometimes bringing something new back in. But what won't go away is my love for him. I've forced myself to try and be nicer to him, because if this stupid childish fantasy is ever to be fulfilled, I can't do it by being a complete bitch all the time. _

_Maybe we just weren't meant to be like I always thought we were. Maybe I should just let this tide carry this stupid infatuation away so I can live a lonely, depressing life like I was born to. That's what everybody keeps telling me anyway. That I was meant to be all alone all of my life. Maybe I just need to give up. _

_"A-hem." _

_What the... _

_Oh, it's just him. "Helga?" I don't think I'm going to win this battle with my emotions.  
><em>

_ I push down hard on the feeling of the rising swoon at the sight of his bare chest, "Couldn't sleep either, Football Head?" I casually ask. I really wish he wasn't here right now. I'm right in the middle of trying to get over him. _

_His feet are dragging in the sand, almost as if he doesn't want to get any closer. What else is new? "Um..." His piecing green eyes screw shut and his head, which he is growing into so nicely shakes. His eyes open back to me and he seems to force a small smile. "No, I guess I couldn't." He says with a small laugh. He's almost never laughed around me. But I guess I'm just not funny, in the comical sense anyway. Everybody else laughs _at _me. But not him. He's the only one that's treated me like anything close to a real person. Even Phoebe has laughed at me when I'm not around. _

_I can't look at him anymore. The ocean looks so appealing to jump into, and away from everything. "Helga," I turn back around, and he's so much closer than he was when I looked away. He still hasn't stopped creeping toward me. "You're... You're so..." Mean, cynical, cold, can't stand being around you. I just want him to get it over with, for him to tell me off so I can take the rest of my life to get over it. _

_"Out with it, Football Head." I turn to face him fully, probably in a subconscious attempt to take this gut punch in stride. His mouth is hanging open and he won't stop looking at me. He's looking me right in the eye, almost like he's in a trance. What's wrong with him? He's never been like this before, he's starting to scare me a little. "Arnold?" _

_Just then, his soft, skinny hands are touching my bare skin. Oh my god! Look at what I'm wearing! I'm in my freaking underwear for Christs sake! My heart feels like it about to punch it's way out of my chest, it's slamming so hard. What in the hell is happening?! ___"I don't want to say anything stupid." He says out of seemingly nowhere. __

_What are my hands doing!? Stop touching his beautiful skin! I didn't tell you to do that! No, don't stop. Don't ever stop. I don't know what's happening, but what ever he's about to do, I don't want him to stop. His skin feels so soft and so warm, and his eyes, even though shaded in the darkness of the night, are still the beautifully cut emeralds that I know and love. His lips look so appealing right now. We haven't kissed in so long. Not since that fateful day on the roof. I wonder if he even remembers that day. He bought it when I coped out of the whole thing.  
><em>

_But he has to be smarter than that, right? _

_He has to know that I really meant what I said back than, and would still mean every single word if I were to repeat it now after so many years. His hands feel like they're the only thing holding me together right now, but at the same time, they're stirring me up so much I feel like I'm about to explode if he doesn't let go, but I don't want him to. I just want him to kiss me. Oh my god... _

_He's kissing me! He's actually kissing me! This is incredible, his lips feel so amazingly incredible on mine! I think my heart just stopped. His shoulders feel so tense under my wandering hands. He's kissing me! Oh, Arnold, my love, don't ever stop! Holy crap, he just pressed his lips to mine fully. His lips taste so amazing. _

_With a soft pluck of our unwillingly separated lips, I feel him pulling back. What, am I not a good kisser or something? "That was incredible." He says. What?! _

_Incredible!? Oh, Arnold! "You kissed me." I say and pop my eyes open. _

_"I-I'm sorry." He stutters at me and starts to pull away. Don't go! _

"You _actually kissed _me!" _I've always been the one to make the first move. But he just kissed me! He actually kissed me! "You actually kissed me!" My face hurts I'm smiling so hard, but this amazing man that has me in his loving arms just kissed me, I think a smile is warranted. __  
><em>

_"You're not mad?" _

_"Do it again!" I want him to kiss me again, I don't want to kiss him, I want him to kiss me. Please, kiss me again, Arnold! _

_"Wha..." _

_"Kiss me again!" I say and bounce on my feet. I feel like a little girl again, being held under an umbrella by a cute little football headed boy in a yellow rain coat. I love him so much, and I don't ever want to stop loving him! Oh, that smile, his smile. I want his smile to be for me, and me alone. And he's kissing me again! I want him only to kiss me, just me and no one else! I want to be his, and I want him to be mine. _

_His lips work so effortlessly against mine, and yet, I can still feel my heart jump erratically in my chest, having burst with love for the umpteenth time. His hands go around to my back and he presses me into him, pressing our bare stomachs together. Oh, this is so amazing. I never thought I'd feel this way. Was that his tongue?! Did Arnold just french kiss me? Well, two can play that game. Oh my god, our tongues are wrestling, and mines losing! _

_"Oh, Arnold..." _

"Oh, Arnold, my Arnold, my love."

What? Where the hell am I?

Oh... fuck.

And I can't even see him tomorrow! And it's one in the morning, so it's not like I can go over to his house now... could I?

No, no, he has a competition tomorrow. I push myself up and change into some sweats and a teal shirt that I stole from him and go back to bed.

So, we didn't exactly french kiss that night, but that's where it goes whenever I have that dream. But he did pull me into him and kiss me again, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Like we had been together for years.

I still remember how I was feeling right before he came up to me. He even said that I looked, and I quote, 'ravishing' in that pink bikini and pink floral sarong that he caught me in. We walked each other back to the beach house after we kissed for a few more seconds that night, and then parted ways awkwardly in the hall way and went to our perspective rooms. It was the next morning that we woke up before everyone else because they were all up late at the bond fire, while Arnold and I tried to sleep but couldn't manage it.

I walked up to him in the kitchen and he said that I looked ravishing in that bikini, and I chuckled and blushed harshly. But then he said that I was cute when I was excited, and he said how adorable I was when I told him to kiss me again, so I kissed him. That was the first time that we actually made out. That's when Lila walked in and we sprang apart and tried to act natural.

I have to go hang out with Phoebe tomorrow, so I better get some sleep. I've always wondered what would have happened if it wasn't his ex girlfriend who walked in. He's even told me that he didn't feel anything whenever they were going out. That all she wanted to do was sit at home and watch Little House on the Prairie. He said that there wasn't anything there, no deepness like he feels with me. He just didn't connect with her like he does with me.

He said that he didn't, and never will love her, or anyone else, like he loves me.

I lift up the picture of us kissing on his bed up again, and I feel myself smile, like I knew I would.

I'm going to marry him someday, if it's the last thing I do.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I had to look up what a sarong was. **

**I'm a guy, give me a break. :(**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So, bit of a dilemma, but I'm having a hard time deciding whether of not to make this story M rated. I really don't like to make stories M rated unless it's absolutely necessary to the story telling, which I'm having a hard time deciding if it is or not. **

**If you feel that an intimate scene would be necessary to the story, and want me to bump up the rating in a chapter or two, then I will. But if you don't want me to, by all means, let me know by way of a review or PMing me. **

**I will take all of your suggestions into consideration because I really don't want to offend anybody by writing an M rated scene. If I do, however, decide to raise the rating, I will let you all know in advance, so when you go to look for this story in the fanfiction updates, you know to switch the rating search from k-t to all. **

**So, let me know what you guys think of me uping the rating, thanks!**

* * *

><p>It's been a week since marching season ended, and we did better than we did last year. We got 3rd in the Contest of Champions, the competition for all of the tri-county area. Now, we are in regular band and times are starting to slow down. Well, kind of.<p>

It's the last day of school before the Thanksgiving break, and I have not even begun to make the preparations needed to make our trip actually happen. And I've ran every lie, made up story, and scenario out in my head, and I can only think of one. And it requires me telling Gerald about Helga and I, and not telling Helga that I told him. She would literally kill me if she were to find out, but I'm hoping to take her mind off of everything next weekend. That's what this trip is for, to take all of our worries and burdens away and just spend time together, relaxing and enjoying each other.

And if I want to do that for her, I need to tell my parents that Gerald invited me to a concert that weekend. I'm still debating whether to tell them that a bunch of other guys are going to make it seem more believable, but I have a feeling that it will be made on the spot. But it all comes down to me having to tell Gerald about Helga and I. I need to cover all my bases if I want this to work. I asked him over to play video games this afternoon and he said he would be over after he dropped Phoebe off at home.

Helga walked home alone like she always does. Every once in a while I ask if she wants a ride home, but she always just gives me one of her looks that says 'no way'. Things between us have been going pretty smoothly, and normally as far as normal goes for us. I know that some people say that the feeling goes away after you've been with the same person for so long, but even after a year and a half of being with her, I'm more in love with her than I am the say I saw her on that beach. I just really hope Gerald will understand that.

We've been like brothers for as long as I can remember. He knows pretty much everything there is to know about me, except for this. The most he knows about Helga and I is that she occasionally yells at me for bumping into her in the hall way. He doesn't know that I do it on purpose. I have a sinking feeling that he will take it as a betrayal my not telling him about such a big part of my life. But we're best friends, he will understand.

I pass through the house with the usual amount of hello's from Mom and Dad and the other boarders and shut the door behind me in my room. I let my backpack fall to the floor beside the couch and go over and turn on the TV. It's another ten minutes of being caught up in my thoughts of how this conversation will go before I hear the door open. "What's up, bro?" He says casually and throws his hand back.

I stand up and smile, "What's up, Man?" We slam our hands together in a hi-five and we both plop down onto the couch.

"Ready to get your ass kicked?" He says to me when he picks up his controller.

"Don't get too cocky." I reply and pick up mine.

The game ensues and we decide to go online. Gerald's doing pretty good, and I'm just sort of... there. I've never been as good as he is at video games. There's only one other person I know of who is better than he is, and with the icon that just popped up at the corner of the screen, she just got on. I force down the sly smile that I feel myself smiling and look over to Gerald who just got another kill and pumped his fist in the air. "Yeah!" He shouts and quickly goes back to the game. I just run around and try not to get shot, while Gerald expertly moves around the map on another one of his killing sprees. "Man, I'm in the-" His voice falls flat when we both see his characters head explode.

I have to literally swallow the laughter when the name the person who killed him appears. She always has it out for him.

"Where the _hell _did he come from?" He says loudly and throws his arm toward the screen.

"You've got to watch your six next time, Gerald." I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and quickly dig it out and have to swallow another laugh. _Tell Gerald the next time he lets his head get that inflated, I'm going to blow it off for real. _I shake my head with a laugh and shove my phone back into my pocket.

We play for another half hour before Gerald gets too frustrated not being the best and goes to the bathroom. I love it when she gets on with us. But today, all it did was remind me of the conversation that I told myself I would have. I had forgotten about it until now. And just as I remembered, I feel like a ton of brinks had just been dropped on my shoulders. I don't think it's going to easy to tell Gerald that the person behind that screen name is my girlfriend of a year and a half, and is a girl that we both have known for the greater part of our lives. Much less tell him that that person is Helga.

I hear him coming up the steps again and I feel my breath start to get heavy. This is going to be harder than I thought. "I swear, that sniper has five bullets in a clip, and that guy used them every single one on my head." He says and closes the door behind him and paces his way through my bedroom.

"Yeah..." I say with a small chuckle, not really knowing how to continue. A silence falls between us and it feels a bit awkward. I take one last breath and let it out slowly before I force the words out. "Listen, Gerald..." I begin and see him turn to me with a wondering look. "About the guy that kept killing you..."

He turns to me and starts pacing his way toward me from the other side of the room.

"He's my girlfriend."

I want to kick myself at the words that just fell from my mouth, and I know Gerald is going to take it the wrong way. "Oh, man, I was just kidding about the whole-"

"No, no, it's not..." I let out a breath and run my hand through my hair and turn away from him. "I meant to say that that person is my girlfriend."

"I _knew _it! I knew you had a girl hidden away somewhere! Who is she? She go to another school?" He seems pleasantly surprised, and I'm just hoping that he is still pleasantly surprised when I tell him the identity of my girlfriend.

"Well... no." I know I'm stalling, but I'm hoping that he'll guess who it is before I have to tell him.

"She goes to Hillwood High? Who is she?"

"Um..." I trail off and turn away from him again. He seems happy for me. I mean, he's been pushing me to ask anyone out since last year.

"Come on, Man, who is it?"

"Well, we've been together for... a while now."

I hear him take a step toward me, "Quit holding out on my, Bro, who is it?"

I let out the breath I have been holding and turn to face him, but look down to the floor, "Listen, Gerald, I don't really know how to tell you this, so I'm just going to show you." I tell him and start walking past him and over to my bed.

"Come on, Arnold, it's not like you're dating _Helga _or anything."

I clench my teeth and pull open the drawer will all of our pictures in it and pull out my copy of us kissing. I stop to remember how she giggled into the kiss when I pulled her into me and took the picture and I smile at the memory. "Actually..." I turn around and hand him the picture.

He takes the picture with a small smile, but it falls flat when he looks at it. He looks up to me with wide eyes for a quick second before he looks back down to the picture. He looks up to me with a smile, but it's almost like he doesn't believe me. He starts laughing roughly and shuffling backward, "You're joking. You've got to be kidding, Arnold."

"It's true, Gerald. Helga and I are dating." I say with a smile, hoping for him to take me seriously.

"Alright, Man, what's the punch line?"

I'm really starting to get angry with him. "Gerald, I just showed you a picture of Helga and I smiling and kissing on my bed, and you think this is a joke?"

"I'm sorry man, but you're dating _Helga?!_" He says with a desperate expression.

"Yes, and I have been for a little over a year and a half." I say and cross my arms.

"_What?! _A year and a half? You've been dating Helga G. Pataki for a year and a half and you decide to tell me _now?_"

"Gerald, your reaction to my telling you this is _exactly _why we don't want anyone to know! I love Helga G. Pataki and if you can't respect that," I lean over and pull open my door, "then you can leave."

He looks to me with another pleading look, then back down to the picture in his hands, and I'm two seconds away from physically throwing him out. "A year and a half?" I only reply with a nod and recross my arms. "When exactly did you guys start dating?"

"Since Rhonda's bonfire at her parents beach house, the night before we left at exactly twelve thirty two AM."

"And you've been keeping it a secret this whole time?"

"We decided to keep it hidden from everyone because we were afraid that it would cause too much drama."

I hear him chuckle and he looks back down to the picture of us, "Good job. I had no idea." I says and hands me the picture back. I gaze at it for a few seconds, letting the image of us warm my chest before I look back to Gerald. "So, does anyone else know?"

"Just my parents." The harsh tone of the conversation is gone. Now it just feels like I'm telling him the facts.

"So not even Phoebe knows?"

"Nope," I see him look away and I continue, "and it needs to stay that way. I'm telling you now for a reason." I tell him and turn back around and reach back into the drawer after I replace our picture and dig out the brochure of the Inn we're going to and hand it to him. He looks over the front and the back, then flips it open. "I'm taking her there next weekend for a weekend away together."

He looks up to me, but doesn't lift his head with the brochure still open in front of him, "A weekend away together? Does that mean that you two have..." He lifts his hand and makes a gesture with his finger motioning from side to side.

I gasp a little at what he's asking me, and don't really know how much I'm comfortable telling him. "Well...you remember that smell you smelled that day last summer, and I said that we had a pipe burst?" He nods for a short moments before his eyes bug out and his head falls with a shake.

"So, in exchange for these images you just gave me, what do you need?" He asks and hands me back the brochure.

"I need you to cover for me." I tell him and take the brochure back and slip it back into my drawer.

"Cover for you?"

"Yeah. See, if I want to make this getaway happen, I can't let my parents know that I'm going to a bed and breakfast with my girlfriend for a weekend alone together. I need to tell them that I'm going somewhere that will seem likely. That's where you come in. I need you to back me up with I tell them that we're going to a concert next weekend and won't be back until Sunday night."

He sighs and starts shaking his head, "I don't know, Arnold."

"Gerald, I need this." I say and it gets his attention, "I've been sneaking around with her for a year and a half too long. I need to take us somewhere where we don't have to hide. I want to do this for her. She's always so paranoid about people finding out about us, and stressing over having to keep our relationship hidden that I'm surprised she hasn't had a heart attack yet." I really am worried about her well being lately. Ever since we got placed together in Chemistry, she is a nervous wreck in class.

"Alright." I feel a smile force its way onto my face at his answer. It feels like all the pieces have just been put in place, and that it's really going to happen. "Just let me work out the details tonight and I'll get back to you. You know, see what concerts are playing far enough out that weekend where we would have to go down there with your car and everything." He says and starts on his way out.

"Thanks Gerald. I owe you one." I say and pat him on the back.

"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it, Bro." He replies with a smile.

"Remember Gerald, you can't tell anyone about us." I stop him just before he starts down the stairs.

"No one? Not even Phoebe?"

"I mean it, Gerald, not even Phoebe."

"No one?"

"Not a soul!"

* * *

><p>Okay, two pairs of jeans, check. Two shirts, check. Night wear, check. Heh, like I'll be wearing it for long. Toiletries, check.<p>

Well, that's everything. He should be picking me up in a few minutes, and I'm doing my last minute scramble to make sure that I packed everything I'll need. He's driving the whole way, so I have a book sitting on top of my backpack to pass the time. He said that it's a two and a half hour drive to the Sanctuary Woods Inn. And I have a feeling that we're going to get lost on our way there. But it will be fun, that's what these trips are all about, the making of new, fun, adventurous, sweaty memories.

He said that he covered it with his parents, and told them that he's going to a concert out by the beach to see a band that he doesn't even like, and they seemed to honestly buy into it. I know he feels bad lying to his parents, and honestly, I do too. But we need this. Ever since he told me that he wants to take me away to this place, I've been so excited and fantasizing of what this weekend is going to be like, and I intend to make it live up to my wild expectations.

Luckily, Olga was caught up in her assistant teaching job to come home for the holiday, so I won't get stuck Christmas shopping with her again this year. And Bob is down at the store managing the Black Friday sales, leaving only Mariam passed out in bed. I feel my phone go off in my pocket and I dig it out. _Hey Babe, I'm outside. _

A smile bursts onto my face and I grab my stuff and dart out the door, downstairs and out the door, where I see his car waiting. I'm quick to get into his car, one because I don't want anyone to see me jumping into Arnold's car, and two because I want to leave and get this getaway started.

"Hey Babe!" I say with giddiness.

"Hey Beautiful." He says with his sly smile as he takes off. "You excited?" He asks when he pulls to a stop, and just as I pull up the hood of my jacket in case someone sees us.

"Are you kidding? This trip is all I've been thinking about for a solid month!" I say and slip on my sun glasses.

"Me too. I'm glad I thought of it."

There's a few minutes of anxious silence, and I'm very eager to get out of the city and on the freeway so I can take this stupid disguise off. "Hey," I calls to me when I feel the car stop. I look over to him and he's smiling over to me lovingly and reaching his hand out to me, and I put my hand in it without hesitation. "I love you."

"I love you more."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: So, I decided to basically skip the more explicit part that I had originally intended on writing, basically because I found that once I wrote the part right before it, and then I wrote the end of the chapter, and read it through, it had the same feeling that I wanted it to have. **

**But, if you guys really, _really _want me to write the scene in between, then I will and will post it as a one shot, since that seems to be the best option for those of you who want me to keep it as a T rating. **

**On another side note, if any of you are artists, and would like to try your hand on designing me a cover for this story, please let me know! PM me if interested.**

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><p>"Hey Babe, all they have is pork rinds." I call from the other side of the convenient store.<p>

"No pork rinds!" She yells from in front of the soda's. "You remember what happened last time."

"Oh yeah," I say to myself, the memories of our childhood drifting into my mind. "That was funny." I say and look down at the empty chip rack.

"Funny for you maybe. Try waking up the fire escape of the boy your in love with." She says next to me.

"Can't say Ive ever been in love with a boy, Helga."

"Shut it." She says playfully and pokes me in the side with her finger, two sodas in her hands.

We check out and climb back into the Packard, where Helga has a little nest set up for herself. We have been in the road for about forty five minutes, and we're still at least two hours away. But we still have plenty of time to get to the inn and still enjoy most of the day. The first fifteen minutes were only of her singing along with her favorite No Comply CD at the top of her lungs. She says it's therapeutic for her, like a release or something. She said that she doesn't think she's that good of a singer, but I didn't want to tell her how great she is because I knew if I did, she would stop.

I know it's coming. I knew she would do it when I saw that she had a book with her when I first picked her up. She knows that it's very dangerous, especially while I'm driving, and she knows how crazy it drives me, and how much I have a hard time controlling myself when she does do it, but we just got back onto the high way and she just pulled out her book and flipped open to the first page. "Helga..." I warn her, only glancing over to her. Sure enough she is pulling out the small black case that she keeps them in. Oh man, this is either going to end very badly, or very well.

"Hmm?" She hums innocently. She knows what she's doing.

"Can't you read without them?"

"It's not my fault that I inherited my mothers eyes, Football Head." She replies and snaps the case shut.

"You know I can't stand it when you wear your reading glasses." I plead.

"Oh?" I can hear mischief practically drip from her tone. I know it will kill me, because I want to get there in time, and I really do, and really don't want to see her with those small, frame-less glasses on. She looks so sexy when she wears her reading glasses, it drives me nuts. I hold my breath and check my mirrors to make sure that I'm clear to take my eyes off the road for a second, and glance over to her. God, she's so hot with her glasses on, I'm so close to pulling over.

"Helga, please, I'm begging you." I continue to plead and forcefully yank my eyes away from her.

"That's why this is so fun." She says to me in her low, husky voice that she only uses when she's trying to rile me up.

"Helga, I'm taking you on a romantic getaway. So the least you can do is make sure we get there in one piece. Once we do, I promise, you can torture me for the next two days straight." I say quickly and grip the steering wheel tighter with both hands.

"Really?" She asks with a gleeful lift in her voice.

"Yes." I see her pull her lower lip between her teeth with a smile and she pulls her glasses off and puts them back into their case.

"Can I get that in writing?"

* * *

><p>It's always so fun to torture and tease him like that. In reality, I do need glasses to read, and because of that, I have yet to actually finish a chapter of a book when we are together. I don't know what it is about me wearing glasses, but nothing seems to turn him on faster. I smile slyly at the thought, tucking it away to pull out later tonight.<p>

We've been on the road for a little over two hours now and it's just passing eleven o'clock in the morning. We turned onto a small, two lane high way a little bit ago, and we're deep into the upper Washington woods. The trees are so tall and lush, surprising for this late in the cold season. Arnold has had his eyes going from the piece of paper he wrote the directions on to the road for the past ten minutes. Theoretically, we should be there any minute, but we're going to a _secluded _bed and breakfast, and secluded usually en tales hard to find. But I know it will be worth it.

All the fights we've had about our hidden relationship, all the times I've had to explain to him why no one else can know and will never understand us as a couple, they're all going to be forgiven and forgotten this weekend. We're just going to spend two days loving each other. Being open, loving, and happy. Like we were meant to be. It's not even the physical part I'm looking forward to, it's the part right after. Getting to fall asleep together in each others arms. I usually end up being the big spoon, simply because he starts to get restless in his sleep if I'm not subconsciously petting his hair.

I love it when we fall asleep with his arms fully coiled around my midsection and his head laying just below my shoulder. It's the best way I can gaze at his beautifully sleeping, angelic face and still have his arms around me.

I'm lost in my mind when I feel the car stop. I look up and I feel a bit floored. This place is gorgeous. It really is secluded. The trees seem to engulf the whole place. From the outside, it just looks like a big log cabin, but I know that there's so much more to it. "Wow." I say and push open my door.

"This place is beautiful, huh?" He says from the other side of the car, which he just pushed himself out of. I look over and he is smiling beautifully, but softly up to the sky. I close my door and start around the front of the car over to him. I catch his eye when I'm only a few steps away and his soft smile turns into a loving smirk. I step into him and wrap my arms around his waist, entwining my fingers around his back, while his arms pull me in by the shoulders. "But not as beautiful as you." He continues.

My complete and endless love for him bursts through me, and it's so much that I can almost feel tears work their way into my eyes. I just love him so much, and can't believe that he cares for me, and loves me so much in return. We're staring right into each others eyes, and I can't look away from him. He's just so amazing to me. I take the last small step separating us and hug him tightly and bury my face into the crock of his neck. I love it when he wraps his arms around my shoulders and kisses my hair. "Don't ever leave me." I whisper to him against his skin. Inwardly, I hope he can't hear me.

"Why don't we check in, then we can settle in." He says and starts rubbing his palm against my upper back in a small circle.

I pull back and smile up to him. "Sure."

We take each others hands and quickly make our way up the set of wooden steps up to a door with glass windows, leaving our stuff behind to get later. We both reach for the knob, but he ends up pulling it open before I can reach it and we step in together and stop to take in the decor. There's a sofa and two chairs facing a sheet rock fireplace that's lit with a few small logs. On the far wall, there is a stair case leading up to the second floor where I'm guessing is there the rooms are, with what looks like the reception desk in the corner. To our right there is a small arch way leading into a dining area. From what I can see, there is about 5 or six tables that seat two, with small place settings and small bouquet of probably fake flowers as center pieces.

The whole place has a nice rustic, yet tasteful look to it. For our first weekend away together, I couldn't have asked for a better place for him to take me to. I feel him squeeze my hand, and I look over to him and see him still smirking lovingly to me.

* * *

><p>She probably doesn't know it, but her eyes are dancing with excitement. I was really hoping for that look. It makes me feel like every lie I've told to make it this far with her has been worth it, that look in her eyes right now.<p>

I give her hand another squeeze and nod my head over to where I saw the reception desk and she smiles a bit wider. We make our way across the room and up to the desk just as a short woman, probably about mid to late twenties with black hair stepped around the desk with a smile. "Hi there," she greets us friendlily, "you two must be Arnold and Helga." She says and flips open a large book, probably the log book or something.

"Yes, we are." I say with a smile and feel Helga step deeper into my side.

"Yes, I uh... actually meant to call you, Mr. Shortman, last week. The room you booked actually sprung a leak." I feel my stomach drop to the floor and feel Helga let go of my hand. "But," she continues and I feel Helga squeeze my hand harder than before, "in order to apologize for this incident, I have personally arranged for you to stay in suite five. It has the nicest view of any of the other rooms. And I've also taken the breakfast off your bill because of the inconvenience."

"Oh... Thanks." I say with another smile. Man, this weekend is already turning out better than I ever hoped it would.

"By the way," She says and turns around and grabs a key off one of the hooks behind her, "I'm Henrietta, or Etta for short. My parents are the actual owners, I just run the day to day operations."

"It's nice to meet you, Etta." I say and follow her up the stairs.

Etta leads us up the stairs and into a long hall way with two doors on either side of the hall way and one at the very end. She leads us to the door at the end and I feel an anxious feeling start to make my heart beat faster. Etta unlocks the door and pushes the door open and steps inside. Helga is first to move and pulls me with her into the room. "Wow..." I hear her say from the doorway.

"Yeah... wow." I say and take in the beautiful room.

The balcony is on the left side of the room, and the large sliding glass doors are enough to light up the room. The bed is at least a queen, and the frame looks like finished wood, but it's cut to look like tree branches. There are windows on either side of the bed and I can already see the tops of the pine trees stretch out as far as I can see. The bathroom is on the other side of the room, and I can see some fancy tile work on the wall of the shower. "This is one of our nicer rooms, and the view is just spectacular." Etta says from a few feet away.

"This is awesome, thank you." I say and give the room one more once over. Man, this is so nice. I'm definitely coming back here with her.

"Well, I'll let you two get settled in. I'll be just downstairs if you need anything." Etta says and moves around us. I smile in thanks and look over to my girlfriend after I feet her start to bounce up and down. Sure enough, she has one of her gorgeous smiles on, the kind where you can just feel her happiness radiate off of it. She only smiles like that when nothing is bothering her, and nothing is weighing her down. It doesn't happen very often, but I would give anything up, with the exception of her, just to see her smile like that for the rest of my life. "Breakfast is usually served around eight thirty. But if you're not up by then, we can certainly wait for you if you want."

"That's alright." Helga says and places her hand against my chest. "Don't hold up on our account." She says and smiles up at me.

"Okay then. Again, just let me know if you two need anything, and I'll be down stairs." Etta says and moves out of the room and down the hall way. I feel Helga tug on my arm after I looked to see if Etta closed the door behind her and see Helga pulling me toward the balcony. I laugh and follow her outside. Man, this place is like paradise. The tops of the trees seem to stretch out forever. Helga lets go of my hand and leans against the railing and I can almost hear her smile.

"This place is beautiful, Babe." She says.

I feel something fill my chest and I just have to wrap my arms around her waist from behind. "Yes," I tell her and start to push her hair off to the side with my nose, "you are." I press my lips to the soft, warm skin on her neck and I hear her giggle. I continue to tease her neck for a minute or two and she reaches behind her and runs her fingers into my hair.

"I thought I was going to do the torturing." She says in her low, husky voice, that sounds a bit breathless.

"You'll have your turn." I say and kiss her neck one last time. "I made a promise, didn't I? And believe me, I intend on keeping it."

She laughs and turns around in my arms and I lean against the railing, trapping her when she throws her arms around my neck. "You're so cheesy sometimes."

"Coming from the girl who actually named her fists when we were kids. What was it again? Ol' Betsy and..."

"The Five Avengers." She said with a proud smile.

"You know I don't even remember you actually using them on anyone except for Brainy." Oh crap. We made an agreement to not mention him, and I already feel terrible. Her smile disappears in the blink of an eye and I can tell that she's still blaming herself for what happened. I look down and pull her into me. "I'm sorry. I just forgot, that's all."

She wraps her arms tighter around my neck and lays her head down onto my shoulder, "I know."

It took a while, and a lot of sessions with Dr. Bliss to get her back to her old self after what happened to Brainy. But after when the word got out of how he actually died, it hit her pretty hard. When I heard, it almost didn't seem real, like something out of a movie or something. You hear about that kind of thing on the news, but you never think that it could ever actually happen. And even after Dr. Bliss telling her over and over again that it wasn't at all her fault, she still blames herself because it was a picture of her that they found in his hand. It was heartbreaking and very tragic. But still, whenever we heard what actually happened, and heard that it wasn't suicide, we were all a bit... disgusted, to put it lightly.

Great, now the mood is ruined. We were doing so well too. Okay, think of something to say that will bring my Helga back to me. The last time I mentioned it, and tried to reassure her, it didn't end how I planned it. I guess I should just lightly change the subject. "Hey," I say and cup her cheek and push her back to look her in the eye, "why don't we go get our stuff and we can get this getaway started."

She smiles up to me and leans up, pressing her lips to mine. It isn't heated or anything, but still, I don't want a day to go by when we don't kiss like this. When we kiss each other just to kiss each other, and because we love each other.

* * *

><p>"Helga, you've been in there for forty five minutes!" I call from the bed. I've been sitting here waiting for her to come out of the bathroom, and I'm starting to get a little worried that something is wrong. Maybe she's still upset that I brought up the topic of Brainy again. But we had fun on our walk this afternoon, didn't we?<p>

"Patience is a virtue, Football Head!" She calls back.

"One which I remember you _not having!_" I retort.

"I waited ten years to tell you that I was in love with you, and six more for you to get it through your thick, football shaped skull that I actually meant it. The least you can do is wait a few more minutes. I'll be out in a minute, so just... get in bed and wait for me."

I sigh and lean back against the bed and look out the glass doors of the balcony. I wonder how many stars are out tonight. "Hey," I hear her unmuffled voice call from the bathroom door.

Oh my god. She's killing me. "Where on earth did you get that?"

She smiles brightly and pulls her lower lip in between her teeth. "I stole it from Olga." She says and runs her arm up the door frame and curls her long, toned leg over the other long, toned leg. Christ, she's so sexy.

She's in a black nightie that only comes a few inches past her hips, with a small pink bow in the middle of her chest, her gorgeous hair coming down in long, silky curls. My heart is slamming so hard. I don't remember it slamming this hard even when we first kissed. She starts toward the bed, and she's swinging her hips with every slow stride shes taking, crossing her legs and smirking at me devilishly. "Is this what you meant by torture? Because you're killing me." It's getting so hard to keep myself from her.

She chuckles deeply and bends over and starts to crawl onto the bed seductively. She's never been like this before. Well, almost. Not like this anyway, she's teased me every once in a while, but never like this. I think I like it. "Well, I just need you alive a little bit longer." She says and before it's actually registered in my stuttering brain, she's straddling me and pushing me back down to the bed, towering over me. The low, dim light of the bedroom is casting dark orange shadows across her features, and it's both haunting and memorizing.

"Before we go any further, Baby," she starts, the low, seductive tone not in her voice anymore. "I just want you to know how much I love you for bringing us here. It's been a dream of mine to run away with you to somewhere like this. And now," She says and reaches down and takes my wrist and brings it to her lips, kissing my knuckles lightly before she presses my palm to her chest, just above her heart. Her skin is so hot. "You've not only made my dreams come true, but you are my dreams. And the fact that we're here now, together, on this beautiful night... I just want you to know that it means more than the world to me."

I lean up slowly and softly press her lips open with mine in an open, passionate kiss. I'm so lost in this woman, I don't think I ever want to find my way back.

She cups my jaw and our breaths are starting to get deeper, and my heart is pounding. "I love you, Helga."

She just presses me back in a heated kiss and pins me.

* * *

><p>"Arnold?"<p>

I'm on the edges of sleep, and I want to answer, but I'm just so tired.

"Baby?" She asks again and runs her fingers through my sweat stained hair. We ended up with my head on her shoulder and our legs tangled together. With her thin, small fingers running through my hair, I don't have the energy to answer her. "Are you awake?" She asks in a small voice, just above a whisper.

I simply nuzzle myself against her and tighten my arms around her midsection.

"Good."

Huh? What's she doing?

"You know, Baby, I don't think I ever told you this before." She starts with her soft voice and keeps running her fingers through my hair. I'm so tired, but I want to hear what she has to say more than I want to sleep. "Now, keep in mind that... I'm not saying tomorrow, or next week, or next year, or even in five years, but someday... I want you to propose to me."

I feel my breath hitch in my throat, but I keep quiet and let her continue.

"Maybe on the roof top where I first confessed to you... or the beach where we first kissed." She chuckles and runs her fingers through my hair again, "You could propose to me in a porta-potty and I'd still say yes."

I don't think I would ever propose to her in a porta-potty, but the beach is a pretty good idea.

"Then, I want us to get married. Maybe... on a hillside somewhere. We could invite our families. Well... your family. I don't think mine would care enough to show up."

I'm seriously fighting the urge to call out to her, because I can hear tears in her voice.

"And our friends. Well... your friends. The only friend I have is Phoebe. And honestly, I don't think she'll stick around for much longer."

Helga, that couldn't be any less true. You're like a sister to Phoebe and we all know that. Phoebe needs you.

"Who am I kidding? We might as well not even have any chairs on my side."

Her voice is so tear ridden that it's killing me to keep still.

"But it doesn't matter," She says after a sniffle, "I'll have you, and that's all I'll ever need. I don't care if no one shows up. The only person I want at our wedding is you, Baby."

We've never really talked about getting married someday, but I guess I never thought about it until now. I know that it should probably scare me, but for some reason, it doesn't scare me at all. It makes me happy that she's talking so seriously about wanting to marry me.

"Then, maybe sometime down the road... I don't know, maybe we could try for a baby."

A baby? I never thought Helga would ever want kids. I know I do, but I never thought she would.

"I don't really know why. I mean, I know for a fact that I'll probably make a terrible mother."

That's not true, Helga, you'll be an amazing mother and I know that.

"But I know you'll make up for it. You'll be a terrific father someday. And I know that you might want a boy, for me to give you a son, to carry on the Shortman name or whatever, but I've always wanted a little girl. Just so I could show my parents how you really raise a daughter. I'd show her the love she deserves. I wouldn't ignore her, forget her name, or forget to pack her lunch for school, or let them walk to preschool alone in the rain. I'd love her unconditionally and make sure that she knows that, no matter what."

Her voice still have tears in it, and it's breaking my heart that she has this resentment for her parents.

"I know, you'll probably go off to college and meet someone else."

I'm not leaving you, Helga. Ever.

"But maybe, if I'm lucky, you'd still think of me ever once in a while. Maybe you'd just know that I loved you with all of my heart and my soul. And that I'll never love someone like I love you, Arnold."

How could she ever think that I'd ever leave her? I thought she knew that I loved her more than anything else in the world. Even the thought of this future that she pictured for us, it's a dream that I couldn't be any happier with if it came true. But the one that she has for us that she thinks will actually happen, it feel like a knife just got shoved into my chest at the thought of my having to spend the rest of my life with someone other than her.

I lay motionless until her breathing starts to get slower and more even, and her heartbeat is slow under my ear before I speak. I press my lips to her skin and move up the bed to lay my head down onto the pillow beside hers. "I'm never leaving you, Helga. If that's the future you want, then that's the future you'll get."

She lets out a small breath and turns to face me on her side. I smile and kiss her forehead.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: hi-five to anyone who can tell me how brainy died. **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Only one person guess right without any hints as to how Brainy died, but they were a guess reviewer. So whomever you are, kudos. You guessed right first! **

**I know I've been lax on updates, but I've been working a lot. Sorry :( **

She's so pretty when she's asleep.

She always looks so calm and at peace, relaxed. And those few short moments when she first wakes up, and opens her perfectly bright sky blue eyes and sees that I'm staring at her, my heart always melts. They always light up with happiness. And the sleepy smile that curls onto her lips when she lets her eyes drift shut again, every time it happens, I feel myself fall for her all over again.

She's laying on her side facing me, with one hand under one of her pillows and the other laying between us. The covers are just below her shoulder, and her hair is fanned out behind her, but there are a few strands in front of her eyes. I don't want to wake her up, but at the same time, I really want to see her wake up. And she's a pretty heavy sleeper, maybe she won't feel it. I reach up and lightly ghost my finger over her forehead and move her hair out of the way, and she nuzzles herself deeper into the pillow when I pull my hand away.

It's so pretty outside. There aren't any shadows at all, and the sky is so blue, I can't even see any clouds. It even looks pretty warm for late November. We should go for another walk today. We didn't get very far yesterday, and I heard that there was a lake somewhere nearby when we got back. I always thought that Mom was teaching me what she knew about plants just as a way to get closer to me, but I actually found it very useful. And impressing Helga was a bonus.

That last moan was a bit long.

"Mmmm..." She rolls onto her back and her arms reach up above her and she starts to stretch. My sleeping beauty is finally awake. Her eyes slowly open and look up at the ceiling, and I can tell that the memories haven't come back to her yet. She might still be caught up in whatever dream she was having. Her eyes catch mine and a smile bursts onto her sleepy expression, and I feel myself smile brightly in return. "Hey..." She says in a whisper.

"Hey you." I say and continue to look down at her as she stretches fully one more time. I'm hoping she'll ask me how long I've been watching her sleep, just so I can tell her the answer that I thought of about twenty minutes ago.

"You watching me sleep again, Football Head?" Eh, close enough I guess.

"You know I can't help it, Helga. If there weren't any downsides, I would watch you sleep all day, but then I wouldn't get to hear your voice anymore." I wanted to say 'not long enough' when she asked me how long I've been watching her. But I guess that will have to do.

"You're such a sap." She says sleepily and reaches for me.

"Guilty as charged, Babe." I say and lean down to her and press our lips together. I can feel her pull me in more by the shoulders, so I roll slightly on top of her as our lips work against each other sweetly. She runs her fingers into my hair and I feel her tongue run against the roof of my mouth and feel the smooth skin of her leg run up mine just before she hooks her foot around my ankle. The next motion of her lips makes me moan it feels so good and I don't know if we're going any further or not. I push myself up and her lips are swollen but she still has a smile on. "So..." I begin and wait for her to look up at me. Her eyes open and I can see her pupils dancing. "What do you want to do today?"

"We were already doing what I want to do today. And I'd like to get back to it, if you don't mind."

I smile and lean down into her again.

* * *

><p>Man, I just can't really believe it. I mean, literally, I don't really believe it, but I know it's true. That's whats scarey. It's true. My man Arnold, and Helga are dating. He even said that he's in <em>love <em>with her! I had a feeling that he was holding something out on me for a while, but this? I thought that he had a girl in another state, that he met online maybe, or just goes to a rival high school or something, but I never in a million years thought that he would be dating the one person whose goal it was to make his life a living hell.

I don't know why I don't feel hurt. I mean, we're supposed to be best friends, why didn't he tell me about this sooner? And if he wasn't on this trip with her and needed me to cover for him with his parents, would he have ever told me? Whose going to be best man at their wedding if not me? Would I even be there?

I guess, when I look at what their situation is though, I get it. Helga doesn't have a glowing rep around school, and Arnold is _Arnold. _He's one of the most popular guys in school. So I guess that if people were to find out that he's going with Helga, I guess I can see how people would react. So I guess I know why they're keeping it a secret. But why from me?

I saw the picture he showed me and they looked pretty dam happy. I don't think I've ever seen Helga smile without it having some evil behind it before I saw that picture.

Maybe it wasn't his choice not to tell me. But I always thought Helga didn't give a crap what people thought of her. That's how she always came off to me. I guess that's why people never really felt bad about making her the butt of their jokes. But now, I feel bad for all of the jokes that I laughed at where she was involved in. Now, I don't feel proud admitting that there was more than a few times where the guys and I would be sitting around and we'd be talking and her name would come up, and we'd say that it would be a curse to have her as a girlfriend.

But Arnold seems to enjoy it. Seeing as they've been together a year and a freaking half. And now that I know this secret, I have to tell someone. Anyone, really. But I swore to my man that I would keep it on the down low, and they've been pretty good at hiding it, I guess I need to be too. But still, I wonder what Phoebe would say if her best friend has been dating my best friend.

Huh. That's funny. I never thought about that.

Helga's best friend is my girlfriend now. And Arnold's girlfriend is my girlfriends best friend. But Helga and me still pretty much hate each other. I don't know what Arnold sees in Helga, but whatever it is, he's willing to toss me down a few flights of stairs over it.

I jump up the stairs of Phoebe's stoop and knock on the door and wait for it to open. She texted me this morning and wanted to go to some science thing that they're having down at the Planetarium. She's been visiting out of state family for the last week, so she wants to spend some time together before we go back to school. She gets so cute when she's excited about something. She gets all bubbly. The front door opens and it's her dad on the other side. "Hello Gerald." He says with a smile.

I smile nervously and try to push my shoulders back out, "Hi Mr. Heyerdahl. Phoebe wanted to go to the Planetarium today."

"Yes, come on in. She's upstairs." He steps aside and nervously make my way past him and inside. "Phoebe, Gerald is here." He calls upstairs.

"Okay, thank you, Father. Send him up." I hear her call back down from her room. Her dad sends me a smile and lifts his hand up the stairs and I flash him another nervous smile and start up the stairs. Ever since he showed me his fencing room and his sword collection the night I picked Phoebe up for our first date, he scares the hell out of me. I make it to the top of the stairs and I let out the breath that I was holding, and I feel myself relax. I knock on her door a few times before I just barge in. "Come in."

I open her door and smile over to her. She's sitting at her desk, clicking away at her laptop. She looks so cute when she goes casual. She's in a pair of light blue jeans and a pair of ballet flats and a powder blue t-shirt with her hair let down. "Will your dad ever like me?"

"He does like you, Gerald." She said lightly and closes her laptop. "He just doesn't know how to act. I've never had a boyfriend before, so he doesn't know how protective is too protective yet. Give it time." I lean down and press my lips to hers lightly. I love the height difference between us. She doesn't even come past my shoulders. "You ready?"

"Yep."

"I was reading the planetariums website, and it said that if you're in a group of three, they take thirty percent off the ticket price, so I was thinking we could invite Arnold." She says when she goes to pick up her purse.

"Oh, uh... He's um... out of town." I wasn't expecting to have to lie to her so soon, I didn't have anything prepared. I don't want to lie to her, but Arnold is my man, and I gave him my word.

"Really? Where'd he go?" She asks casually and lifts her purse over her shoulder.

"Um... he went to uh... a-a concert down by the beach for the weekend." Crap, that was the lie I told his parents, and in that lie, I went with him.

Phoebe's glaring at me blankly now. She knows I'm lying. I'm so dead. "You know, don't you?"

Oh crap oh crap oh crap, "Uh... k-know what, Baby?"

"About Arnold and Helga. You know that they're dating, don't you."

"Wait... _you _know that they're together?"

"Yes." She says plainly.

"Helga told you?"

"No."

"Then how..."

"Helga may put on a strong front, but she's an open book to me, Gerald. I've known they were dating for a long time."

I can't even think straight, I'm reeling so bad. "But... Arnold told me that the only people that know are his parents."

Phoebe chuckles and looks away, "I'm guessing Stella finally caught on."

"Wait wait wait... So... you've known about them the _entire _time?"

"Pretty much." She says with a shrug.

"Why haven't you told me!?"

"Because I also know that they want to keep it a secret. Just because I know that secret doesn't mean that I have the right to go and tell the world about it."

"Does Helga know that you know?"

"I'm still alive, aren't I?" She says with a raised brow. "Obviously, Helga doesn't want anyone to know that she and Arnold are dating, and if she doesn't trust me enough to know, then so be it. I'll still be here when she does decide to tell me, just like I was before."

"What do you mean before?"

"Gerald, Helga has been in love with Arnold since Urban Tots."

"_What?!" _I just can't believe this anymore. This is some kind of a dream. This is a prank or something. "Then why the hell did she torture him so bad?"

"Why do you think, Gerald? Because she didn't want him to know. That's the first and foremost rule of secret loves."

"So... you've known about this whole thing for years, and kept it to yourself?"

"Yes."

"How? I mean, Arnold only told me a week ago and it's killing me not telling anybody." I start pacing across her bedroom floor and she's just standing there with her one hand on the strap of her purse and the other down by her side, and I can feel her eyes following me. "I just... Arnold and Helga!" I say and fall onto her bed. This whole thing is exhausting.

"Come on, Gerald, you can't be that surprised." She says and sits back down into her chair in her desk and turns to face me. "You remember how they were freshman year. Everybody thought that they were going to get together, or they thought that they already were."

"I remember them spending some time together, but Helga didn't really seem interested or anything." Freshman year was a weird year for all of us. I remember the rumors of them getting together, but Arnold said that they were just rumors and that they weren't together. "How'd you find out?"

"Their body language shifted drastically during the beach trip that Rhonda took us on. They were acting really nervous around each other all of the sudden, and after we went back to school, they weren't acting like friends anymore. I figured something must have happened, and I thought that they got into a big fight until I saw that Helga wasn't as depressed as she used to be. I was waiting for her to tell me that her and Arnold had taken the next step in their relationship, but that has yet to happen."

"I just can't see them together."

"Really? I always thought they'd be good for each other." She says with a smile.

"Why's that?"

"Think about it, Gerald. Arnold needs someone to show the bright side that he's always looking on to, and Helga needs to be shown that bright side. And obviously, they're a perfect fit for each other, seeing as they've been together for this long."

"I guess." There's another pause, and it feels good to have someone to talk about this with.

"You know, I've been holding their secret in for so long, it feels good to tell somebody."

"So... do you think they'll ever tell us?"

She sighs and leans back in her chair, "With as long as Helga kept her secret hidden, she may never tell me. She only told me because she had to. And she doesn't even know that I know about her and Arnold."

"Yeah, Arnold only told me because he needed me to cover for him while they went on a weekend getaway. Said something about needing to take her somewhere where they didn't have to hide." Phoebe smiles one of her small smiles and looks down at her nails. "So, Helga only told you because she had to?"

"The first time, yes."

"What do you mean?"

I can see sadness wash across her face, and I know it's going to be rough. "She came to me in tears one afternoon in the seventh grade."

"Seventh grade is when Arnold got together with Lila."

"Exactly." She says with her eyes on me. "Arnold was chasing after her for so long, and I think Helga knew that it wouldn't happen because Lila wasn't interested, so she felt that she had a shot. But when Lila said yes, I think it just... tore her whole world apart. She burst into my bedroom that afternoon and broke down in my lap. That's when she finally told me everything."

"But Arnold told me him and Lila never really hit it off. He said that she never wanted to do anything, and that all she wanted to do was sit at home at watch Little House on the Prairie."

"That maybe true, but you have to look at it from Helga's perspective, Gerald. She was in love with him and he, without knowing it, basically slapped her in the face. I think he may still feel bad about it, for not knowing sooner."

She's known all of this all these years, and watched from the sidelines. I wonder what would have happened if she had spoken up about it. But what amazes me is that she figured it out on her own. I mean, everybody knew for a fact that Helga hated everybody, especially Arnold. Facts of life, sky is blue, grass is green, Helga hates Arnold, that's how it was. But now, knowing that she was in love with him the whole time...

"You do know that you can't tell anyone about this conversation, right?" She says, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, I know."

"No, I mean it, Gerald. As far as everybody else is concerned, Helga and Arnold hate each other, and I don't know that they're together, okay?"

"But Pheeb, what if we just sit down with them and tell them that we know. I mean, we're all friends, aren't we? Why do we have to lie to each other?"

"You and Helga despise each other, Gerald." She said matter-of-factly.

"Hey, she's my mans girl, so as far as I'm concerned, she's okay in my book." I've been telling myself that for the past week, but I don't think it's sunk in yet.

Phoebe smiles for the first time in what feels like a long time. Really, it's only been a few minutes since I came in, but this whole conversation, and everything that she's told me she knows, I'm starting to get a head ache. It's going to take a while to process this whole thing. "Helga's a good person, Gerald. She's just..."

"What?"

She lets out a sigh and starts picking at her nails, she only does that when she's nervous about something. "Scared."

* * *

><p>"I don't want to leave." I whine. I really, <em>really <em>don't want to leave. This place is a paradise. It's been so amazing waking up next to him, without fear of his parents walking in on us just staring into each others eyes. I don't want to go back. I just want to stay here with him forever, loving each other, being with each other. This weekend, not having to hide, it's made the thought of going back to school and pretending to hate him sickening.

"Neither do I." He said and wraps his arms around my waist from behind.

We have to go back to school tomorrow, and it's Sunday afternoon. We still have a two hour drive ahead of us, and I'm guessing it will be dark by the time he drops me off. I want to go home with him though. I don't want to go back to my house. All that whispering I did to him every night after he fell asleep of what I want our future to be, it's been stuck in my head. And the longer it's in there, the harder it will be to get over when it doesn't happen.

"We need to come back here one day. To this room." He says against my hair.

"Yeah." Maybe for our honeymoon.

I turn around in his arms and weave my arms around his neck, laying my head down on his shoulder. This weekend has been so amazing. It's made the thought of returning back to school a freaking nightmare. I just want to stay with him, away from everybody and everything forever. I hear him sigh and he rubs my back, "We should get going. I told my mom I'd be back by seven, and it's already four o'clock."

I lift my head off his shoulder and look up to his emerald eyes, and pause for a moment when I catch the sight of the setting sun reflecting in them. "I don't want to go back." I say softly. Crap, I'm getting emotional again.

"It's going to be okay, Babe. I promise. Whatever we face, whatever they throw at us, we can take it. And you want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't give a dam what they say. I love you, and that's enough for me."

I smile sadly and place my hand gently on his head, petting his wild hair back. "You know, that sounds like the lyrics of an eighties power ballad."

"... And it's ruined."

I laugh and pull him down to me. He knows I can't help but laugh whenever he cusses.

* * *

><p>I'm glad that she let me have the radio on the way back. I love her singing voice, but sometimes, I just need something easy going.<p>

It's getting a little dark. But we're almost home, we got into Hillwood about ten minutes ago, so we should be home any minute. Helga's reading the book she brought with her next to me, while I listen to Autumn Leaves on the radio. It's one of my favorite sings. She has her glasses on, but we ended up making love one last time before we checked out of our room.

This weekend has been so amazing, almost like a dream. But now that it's over, reality is setting back in. I've been two of the most amazing, romantic days with the woman I love, not having to hide who we are, and I don't want to go back. All the lies, the stress, the worries, it all feels overwhelming when I think about it at once. But I know that we'll fall into things easily enough.

I pull to a stop in front of her house and wait for her to look up from her book. She lifts her head with wondering eyes, and luckily, it's kind of dark so I can't see her face clearly enough to see those small, rimless reading glasses she wears. I hear her sigh and see her take her glasses off and put them back into her case. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"With bells and whistles." She says and leans over and presses her lips to mine. Mmm, she tastes like chocolate. I think it's from that candy bar she bought when I stopped for gas. She usually pulls away by now, but she's still kissing me. I feel her scoot herself closer and I reach up and cup her cheek and kiss her just a little harder. I can feel her hands on my neck as our lips work together, and our kisses are getting longer, and more passionate. She runs her fingers into my hair and with one last, long kiss, she pulls away with a pluck after sucking in my bottom lip and leans back with a smile. "I love you, Arnold."

"I love you too, Helga." She smiles brighter and kisses me one more time before she grabs her backpack and hops out. I roll down my window and wait for her to get to the other side of the car. "Hey," I call before she gets to her stoop. She looks back and I lean out slightly, "One more." I hear her giggle and she prances over to the window and leans down and kisses me sweetly one more time.

"We still meeting during first period tomorrow?" She asks me and leans against the door.

"I'll be there."

"Kay," She says with another smile and leans down and kisses me one more time. "Love you." She says as she turns around.

"Love you too, Babe!" I call just as she's opening her door.

I pull away from the curb and drive down the street and stop at the stoplight ahead of me. This light always takes forever to change. I sigh and lean back in the driver seat, but I can feel someone watching me. I look over, and I feel my heart stop.

With wide eyes, standing on the corner, obviously having seen everything, is Matt.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: No other reason for the delay other than laziness and work. Get home from ten hour days, tell myself all day I'm going to write, end up doing nothing. Sorry guys :( **

**Also, more importantly. I've been strongly suggested that I go back and edit chapter ten and add in the sex scene, which I'm not opposed to doing, and uping the rating, which I'm also not opposed to doing. If I do, it will give me a little more le-way as far as language is concerned, because Helga, being Helga, cusses. And I know a punk rocker when I see one, and Helga G. Pataki is pretty punk rock. **

He's late. He's never late.

I've been standing here in the dark in our supply closet for over ten minute now. We should have had our fix of each other by now. And I had a surprise for him today too. I wanted him to be the first to see it. But I guess I'll have to gauge his hidden reaction in chemistry. I don't know why, maybe I just felt nostalgic, but I decided to put my hair back up in my old pig tails. Maybe it's not a good look when you look at my dark green cargo pants and hooded utility jacket. But I wanted to do it for him, just to make him laugh.

This weekend was so amazing too. Like a dream that I have yet to wake from. Just one weekend away with no worries at all. We should have taken more pictures. We took plenty, and we even took a picture with Etta, and her mother Carol. But most of them were of just us. Some of just him that I snagged when he was leaning down and picking flowers to tell me what they could be used for, and one of him looking over the balcony of our room. That's probably my favorite. It was during sunset and he just looked so handsome.

I guess I should be getting back to class. I open the door as quietly as possible and check both directions to make sure the coast is clear and them move down the hall back to class. Today's going to suck, I can already tell.

First period goes by normally, and then I'm down the hall to head to Algebra. At least I'll have a chance to catch up with Pheebs. I saw we had a sub whenever I passed by this morning. I catch her eyes and smile just as she turns into the room. She's staring at me, but she has a smile on nonetheless. "Felt nostalgic, Helga?"

"Kinda sorta." I shrug. She chuckles and moves to her desk.

"How was your break, Helga?" She asks after setting her books down.

"Eh, ended up microwaving meatloaf for Thanksgiving. Bob was at the shop and Mariam was... well, she was Mariam."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Helga." She says and averts her eyes. She says that a lot, and sometimes it gets to me depending on what mood I'm in. But I can always tell that she means it, at least most of the time.

"Honestly, I think it would have been worse if everyone actually _did _come together for the holiday." I try not to complain too much about my home life, or lake there of. Most of the complaining I do is to Arnold, actually, all of it is to Arnold, but on a rare occasion, I'll give Bliss a call for old time sake.

I wonder how Bliss is doing nowadays.

* * *

><p>I've never been this scared before. It feels like everything is about to fall apart. Like the feeling you get when your standing on a steep ledge and your afraid you'll fall off. That anxious feeling, the feeling that if you make one wrong step, everything you'll know will be gone.<p>

Matt saw Helga get out of my car, and lean down in my window and kiss me. Out of all the ways I worried about us getting outed, Matt is probably the last person I would want to be the person to out us. I think he still has it out for me for standing up to him during marching season. I wasn't thinking. What was wrong with me! Anyone could have seen us! We're always very careful whenever I'm driving her anywhere. Especially when I drop her off. She usually has me drop her off a block away, or even around the back, but we weren't in that mentality. We were still coming back from our love sick state.

I'm terrified that Matt has spread the word around the entire school already. That's what any normal person would do. Helga is known for being mean and pretty much intolerant of everyone. So I don't think people would understand what we have together.

Wow, up until now, I don't think I really understood Helga's fears.

I'm only a couple minutes away from school, and I'm tempted to just keep driving. But I pull into a parking spot anyway after a short drive. Everything seems to be going okay. Everyone seems normal, no one's staring at me. I take a deep breath to try and muster up as much courage as I can, but all it does is make me sick to my stomach. I grab my stuff off the passenger seat and climb out of the Packard and close the door, waiting for the looks to start, but everybody just keeps walking through the parking lot on their way to class.

The band kids, well the color guard anyway, are in their usual spot in front of the outside entrance near the band room. I usually don't go that way, but I have this urge to attract as little attention as possible. I don't know why though. "Hey Arnold." One of the color guard says to me when I pass. I flash whoever it was a smile and pull open the door. I didn't see whoever it was greeted me, and I feel a little bad for not really saying hello back, but I have other, more important things on my mind.

I reach one of the main hallways and I'm frantically looking around for someone to be staring and snickering at me. But everyone just seems to be going about their normal morning routines. I start slowly down the hallway with my hands buried deep in my pockets. After a minute of squeezing past a few crowds of people, I feel my phone vibrate against my hand in my pocket. It scares me a little, and I may have jumped a bit. I don't really remember. I take a quick look around before I reach my locker and pull my phone out.

Oh no.

_Matt: Meet me in the instrument room before first period. _

I reread the message a few times, but it still says the same thing. I shove my phone back in my pocket and speed walk down the hall back toward the band room. I have about five minutes before the first bell rings, so I have time, but I want to get there as soon as possible. I pull open the door to the band room and quickly walk across the band room. "What's up, Arnold?" Someone asks me.

"Hey," I say quickly without stopping to even see who it is. I walk toward the back and turn the corner into the room where we keep our instruments. It's not very well lit, and color guard has their period first period, so no one will be in here for at least two periods.

"Hey Arnold." A familiar voice says from across the room. It sounds so cold that it sends a shiver down my spine.

"Matt?"

"You know, I thought you were gay." He said and steps forward.

"How flattering." I reply.

"But I never knew that you liked them dirty." I feel my fists tighten and my jaw click. "But here I find out that Arnold is sleeping with the she-beast." I never knew this kind of anger existed. I feel like if he says one more word about her, I'll snap.

"What are you going to do, Matt?"

"I'm going to blackmail you." I says with a grin. "I couldn't imagine what people would think of you if they found out that you decided to go through the sewers to find someone."

Before I know what I'm doing, I'm lunging forward and grabbing his collar and pushing him against the wall. "Say another word about her and I'll-"

"You'll what?" He says and grabs onto my wrists. "Everybody knows you're too much of a pussy to fight anybody. And if you don't take your hands off me, everybody's going to know something else too."

I let out a deep breath, and force my fists to let go of his shirt and take a step back, but they still feel like they want to punch something. He shrugs his shirt back into place and dusts off his shoulder. "What do you want, Matt?"

"I'll think of something." I says with another grin and starts out of the room.

"I want your word." I say before he leaves.

He turns back to me, "What?"

"I want your word that you won't say anything." I say and step up to him.

He flashes me another one of his fake smiles and I see him extend his hand out of the corner of my eye. I sigh out of frustration and put my hand in his and tighten it as much as I can, hoping he'll get the message. "I'll be in touch." He says and steps out of the room.

I don't trust him at all.

I start out of the band room, and I know I'm going to be late for first period. But I can't worry about that right now. I'm on the verge of having the most important thing in my whole life ripped away from me. What am I going to tell her? She's going to kill me when she finds out that someone saw us. I'm so afraid of her reaction. She can get a bit dramatic at times, but this time, she has every right to be dramatic. And honestly, so do I, but I know I have to be reasonable about this whole thing.

I have to think that Matt will keep his word and not say anything to anyone, and I'll just do whatever he says.

And as long as Matt doesn't say anything, neither will I.

I feel my gut clench at the decision, but I know that it's for the best. I can't tell her about this. I hate myself so much right now.

I walk into first period and sit down in my desk and put my head on my hand. We're suppose to meet in the supply closet this morning too. But I can't go now. I'm surprised we haven't drawn any attention as it is, so I'm not about to risk it now, especially with out secret on the verge of being exposed to everyone in the entire school.

She's going to be so mad that I stood her up, but I'd rather deal with her being mad about that, then torn apart and frantic about someone knowing about us.

First and second period go by in a blur. I can't get my mind off what's happening. I've always sort of went along with Helga's insecurities, and tried my best to help her cope with them because I love her. But I've never pushed her. I haven't helped her overcome them. I've just helped her live with them. Maybe if I'd pushed her a little more, instead of worrying about keeping things steady between us, we wouldn't be in this mess.

But she'd hate me then too. I've went along with her fear of people not understanding us since we've been together and never truly understood it. But now, I get it. People can't understand what we have together. They could never understand why I love Helga so much. They'd see us and think that we didn't belong together, and wouldn't stop until we aren't together anymore. And I can't let that happen. I have to keep people from knowing about us. And that means giving into whatever Matt wants me to do. I'm scared of what he has planned, and maybe he was just bluffing about the whole blackmailing thing, but I don't want to test him.

I wish I could tell her about all this. But I can't. I've been lying to everyone else about us being together, now I have to lie to her to keep us together.

* * *

><p>New seats again? Well, it was a fun month while it lasted I guess, writing each other notes, just being next to him is enough for me.<p>

But at least I'll finally get to see his reaction to my new hair style, or rather old hair style. I've gotten a few weird looks from people, and some even weirder looks from people I went to elementary school with. Sid's eyes nearly bugged out of his head whenever he saw me in between first and second period. I sit in my seat and wait for him to enter. He usually comes in at the last minute. I'm so anxious to see his reaction, and I feel myself smile at the thought of his eyes lighting up with amusement when he first sees it.

I see his red flannel shirt out of the corner of my eye and feel my heart swell. I quickly look over to him, but feel my smile fall. Somethings wrong. I know those bright green eyes more than I know my own, and I know when something is bothering him. I have a feeling that him not meeting me at our supply closet has something to do with the worry he has in his pupils.

He has his hands stuffed in his pockets and the sleeves of his flannel t-shirt rolled down, he even has a few of the buttons actually buttoned. He stopped buttoning the buttons in middle school. Something is wrong.

"Alright, new seats. Y'all head to the back." Dr. Morrison says with his clipboard. The bell hasn't even rung yet. I can't take my eyes off him. We just came back from the best getaway imaginable, what could have him looking this worried? He doesn't even look at me when he leans against the counter with his hands still in his pockets, his head hung low. I want to go over to him, but some one leans on the other side of him and blocks me. I settle for leaning against the counter on the other side of the room, hoping he'll feel my eyes on him.

Dr. Morrison assigns us our new seats, and Arnold and I end up on opposite sides of the room. I can't even stare at him from the angle. The class goes on and I would text him, but I got seated in the second row and Morrison is giving another one of his long lectures. And I don't trust the girl next to me not to nark on me for texting in class.

The hour drags by and I'm slow to gather my things, waiting to see him pass in front of me on his way out. I want to catch up with him. Something is wrong with my love and I need to know what it is. He passes in front of me as lonesomely as he did when he came in and I quickly get out of my seat and follow him. He's walking pretty fast. "Arnold." I try to get his attention, but he ignores me. "Hey!"

"What Helga?" He says darkly and pushes the door open to the outside sidewalk.

"What's wrong?" I ask in the most sincere voice I can.

"Nothing." He's not even looking at me. "I'll see you later, Helga." He says and breaks out into a jog. I'm so floored that I can't muster up the nerve to follow him. What's wrong? He's not even acting like my boyfriend anymore. He's acting like he doesn't even know me. I'm broken out of my thoughts when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I quickly dig it out and see I have a text from him.

_I'm sorry, just keeping up the act. I love you, Babe. _

Keeping up the act?

Oh. I can't believe I forgot. He's not supposed to act like my boyfriend. I guess I've been so high from our getaway that I didn't bother to get back into the right frame of mind. I sigh and put on a somewhat fake scowl and turn to head to my next class until I feel my phone go off again.

_And I loved the hair. :) _

I feel a small smile force its way out despite what just happened. _You owe me a make out session, Football Head. _

* * *

><p>"So, Matt knows and he says he's going to black mail you?" Gerald asks me for what feels like the millionth time.<p>

"Yeah. You know, I never really gave Helga's insecurities that much credit, I sort of just went along with them. But now, I get it. I mean, even _you _don't understand us as a couple."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm out in the town square telling people to get their pitchforks and torches. I may not understand whatever it is you two got going on, but as long as you two are happy doing it, that's enough for me."

I'm a little taken back by what he just said. I didn't expect that much from him so soon. "Thanks Gerald." I say honestly.

"Hey man, we're brothers. We look out for each other. So if this guy gives you any more grief, just let me know." He says with a big smile as he points his thumb to his chest.

"I appreciate it, Gerald, but I can handle it. I don't need you going all... racial stereotype on me."

He pushes himself off the couch and turns to head for the door, "Hey, it's my job as the token black guy of the school." He says and opens the door. "I'll see you later, Arnold."

"Yeah, later Gerald." I close the door behind him and fall onto the couch with a thud. I may not be able to tell Helga, but seeing as Gerald already knows about us, I figured he might be able to help me come up with a solution, which he didn't. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. I feel so paranoid that Matt was just bluffing about the whole black mailing thing and is telling everybody he can about Helga and I.

I'm broken out of my thoughts by the sound of a soft knock on my door, "Come in." I say and lean back against the couch heavily.

"Hey Babe." Helga says in her soft, caring voice. I hated acting so distant to her today, but I didn't want anyone else to catch on. She moves to sit down next to me and ends up smashing her side into mine and wrapping her arms around my chest. I feel my worries melt away at her contact and move my arm around her shoulders to pull her in. "You were acting a little depressed today, is anything wrong?"

I look down to those beautiful baby blue eyes that are looking up at me from her place laying her head down on my shoulder. She's giving me a puppy dog look on purpose, but I love it anyway. "No," I say with a smile and kiss her forehead sweetly. "Nothings wrong."

"You know, I did my hair for you today, and that's the reaction I get?" She says with a new, more annoyed tone in her voice.

I really did love her hair today, but I had other things on my mind and I couldn't really enjoy it. "I love it, Helga. And I'm sorry for standing you up this morning. I had a pop quiz in first period that I couldn't get excused from." Another lie, that's two in less than one minute. I told myself that I would never lie to her. But I just broke that promise twice in less than sixty seconds.

"You still owe me a make out session, _Football head!" _Football head sounded like it used to, like an insult, like she's angry at me, but I know she's just being playful.

"Why don't I cash in that rain check right now?" I say. I grab onto her wrists and move her arms around my neck, never breaking eye contact with those big, bright blue eyes.

She lets a bright smile burst onto her face as her eyes go down to my lips, and I lean forward and press our lips together. For some reason, it feels like we haven't kissed in a really long time. I push her into my when my hands start roaming to her back and I can feel her start to get restless.

I know that it's snowballing, and I'm not going to stop it. But I still hate myself for lying to her.

But I have to if I want her to stay.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: A little short, I know. And I know I haven't been updating as much as I should be, but my computer totally crashed on me last week. Which means I'm limited to the time I have to spend on the interweb. **

**As for revising chapter ten and uping the rating, I am giving you a warning now. **

**With the next chapter I post, the rating will be increased to M, due to sexual content. Younger readers please be advised. There will be a revised chapter ten with an additional scene added in right before the ending of the chapter. I don't know when the next chapter will be posted, but I'm shooting for sometime next week. Probably late next week. **

The past few weeks have been kind of crazy, but not out of the normal, really.

Helga and I are still together, thanks to me not telling her about Matt knowing about us. Surprisingly though, Matt still hasn't told me what it is he wants out of me. I'm starting to get a little nervous about it. I think he may have been just bluffing about blackmailing me.

In other news though, I finally figured out what I want to get Helga for Christmas. Last year we agreed not to get each other anything because we had just gotten together. But we made up for it on Valentines Day.

She told me last year that she broke the chain on her locket whenever she found out that I went out with Lila in a fit of rage, and hasn't had the money to get it fixed. So I decided to get it fixed for her, and put a new picture of me in it. I'm thinking of the one that she took of me on the balcony during sunset on our getaway. I saw her staring at it pretty hard whenever I saw her flipping through the pictures we took on our way back. But I need money first. And I don't have any.

It's morning on the second week of December, and the only thing that's happening today is chair placement in band. Our winter concert is next week, and I think Mrs. Hood is scrambling to get us ready. I don't know why, I ended up in symphonic band this year, which is the more advance group. It has most, if not all of the upperclassmen in it.

I make my way down stairs and find Mom and Dad sitting at the table with the paper open. Mom is in her green robe and Dad is in his usual white t-shirt and sweatpants. "Morning, Dear." Mom says.

"Morning, Son."

"Morning." I reply and move to the refrigerator and pour myself a glass of orange juice. I want to ask to borrow the money for Helga's Christmas present, but I know Dad will say it would mean more if I make the money myself. I sigh at the thought and pull out an empty chair across from Mom and look down.

I wonder if they put the classifieds over here on purpose. Never the less, I find myself skimming the listings, looking for anything with the words 'part time' and 'holiday help' and 'no experience necessary' in it. I find one at the bottom of the page, and it looks really interesting. Pay is minimum, but doesn't require any experience and the hours are mostly on weekends. Sounds good enough, I guess.

Oh crap. The one good job I find listed, and it's for him.

I don't think Helga would even allow me to work for him.

But a job at Big Bob's Electronics working at the loading dock, just to raise money to pay for her present, I think it's worth the risk. And I think she would find out about this one anyway, so I might as well tell her. "Hey Dad?"

"Yes, Arnold?" He says and takes a sip of his coffee.

"How would you feel about me getting a part time job?"

His sipping comes to a stop and I see his eyes go forward. I look over to Mom and she has about the same look as he does. "What for?" Mom asks.

"I want to get Helga a Christmas present, and didn't want to ask you for the money."

"We'd be happy to give you the money for that, sweetie."

"Um..." Dad says right after. I knew he wouldn't be too happy about that. "How much would this Christmas present run us if you did ask us?"

"I'm not sure. I want to replace the gold chain from her locket."

"Gold? Like... real gold?" He asks me.

"Yeah."

"I think it's a great idea that you get a part time job." He says with a smile and a hand on my shoulder. He gets up and walks across the kitchen to the coffee pot.

"As long as you keep your grades up." Mom finishes. I knew that was coming.

"Of course, Mom."

"Where did you want to work?" Dad asks from behind me.

"Actually, there's a listing right here that seems interesting." I say and put my finger on it.

Dad walks over and looks down at the paper with a small smile, but I see it fall when he reads it, and his eyes dart over to Mom. He then turns the paper around and puts his finger on the listing I had in mind and Mom's face falls just like Dad's. "You really want to work for Bob Pataki?"

"No, but it's the only listing on here that seems like I have a shot at."

"Son, I remember what that man is like. I don't think working for the father of the girl you're going out with is such a good idea."

"He doesn't know about us, Dad. I mean, the last time I talked to him, he still referred to me as the little orphan boy."

"Arnold," Mom starts and gets up from her chair, "I'm going to let you make the decision here. If you want to work for him, then you go right on ahead." She says, surprising me. "But just make sure that you clear it with... everyone."

* * *

><p>I walk into band after Helga just brushed me off. She told me to watch where I'm going, but she had that sparkle in her eyes. That sparkle that told me that she loves me.<p>

She had her hair up in her old pig tails again, and I loved it. But I like it more when she wears it down. It brings out her eyes more. It reminds me of when she dressed up and pretended to be that french foreign exchange student, Cecile. If only she told me that it was her sooner, instead of seven months after we had already been dating.

I sigh and toss my backpack on the table along with everyone else's and move to the instrument room. I grab my trumpet and move to my seat. I'm the third chair, simply because there were two seniors above me when we were seated for marching season, but Mrs. Hood made it very clear to everyone in the section that _I _was the section leader. But now, we have our chair placement tryouts today.

I'm pretty good, I guess. But there are some people better than me. I think James can hit the higher notes better than I can.

"Arnold." I hear someone say. I turn around and Matt is waving me over. I feel my heart thump a little harder and stand up. I've been dreading this ever since he told me he was going to blackmail me. I move over to him and try and calm myself down. I don't know why, but he's a lot more intimidating than he was before.

"What to you want, Matt?"

"I want you to throw the try out."

I feel my gut clench and my hands shake a little bit. "What?"

"I want you to throw the chair placement test today."

"Matt, you're better than I am anyway, what's the point?"

"I want to see you fail." I says with a smile. "If you don't, I'll have no other choice but to tell Kathy about this little secret I've been holding."

"You don't have any proof, Matt." I say and cross my arms. I don't know why I didn't think of that earlier.

"You think that matters? This is high school, certain people hear things, and they're off and running."

I know Kathy. If she hears about me and Helga, she'll not only ruin us, she'll make sure Helga gets tormented until we graduate, and I love her too much to put her through that kind of hell. "Fine."

Matt smiles evilly again and steps around me. Bands starts and everyone finds their seats. Mrs. Hood leads us through our warm ups and then starts telling us what's going to be on our chair placement test. It's a section of one of the songs we're playing next week, and it's a little challenging, but I have it down well enough.

Not like it matters, though. If I play it like I know I can, Matt will blab to Kathy, and Kathy will blab it to everyone else. "Alright, let's start with the flutes."

The tests start and Mrs. Hood is waiting till she tests everyone to give out the chairs, like she always does. And the last section she comes to is ours. Matt plays his, and despite my hating him right now, he did pretty well, then James, and he does a little better than Matt did. Then Mrs. Hood looks over to me with a smile and lifts her baton. This is going to hurt.

I start playing the piece, and I can feel Matts eyes on me. There's a slight shake in my tone, but it's not from nerves. I'm doing it on purpose, but I know it's not enough. The note that's coming up is high enough that if I frak it, it won't be that hard to believe it. I can't believe I'm doing this.

I push the air a little harder than I know it's suppose to be and the note comes out fraked and I know Mrs. Hood is disappointed at my performance. I let out the breath I was holding and sit back. I look over to Matt and he is still grinning. He gives me a thumbs up and I look down to the ground. "Um... okay, Will, you're next." Mrs. Hood says and Will starts his test.

We get through the tests and I'm seated last. There's only four people in the section, but I know that Matt got just what he wanted. He wanted me to be humiliated in front of everyone, which he will remember whenever he looks over at me from his place at first chair.

* * *

><p>I asked Helga to meet me in the back of school this afternoon so we could talk. I think she thought it was so we could make out, but I need to tell her that I want to work for her Dad. Well, I don't really <em>want <em>to, I want to raise enough money so I can replace her locket for Christmas. But to do that, I need to work for her dad. But I want to tell her with out mentioning wanting to get her a Christmas present.

I sigh deeply and lean against the brick wall in the back of the abandon part of the school. Well, it's not really abandon, but no body ever goes back here.

I hear her footsteps from around the corner, and I shove off the wall. "Hey you." She says with her usual bright, gorgeous smile.

"Hey Babe." I say back and kiss her lightly, not taking my hands off her sides when I pull back.

"What's with the new hiding spot, Football Head? What's wrong with our old spot?" She asks and puts her arms around my neck.

"I wanted to talk to you about something." I say and put her into me a little bit more. More for me than for her, because I know she's going to shove me away and that this is going to turn into an argument. I want to be close to her for as long as I can before she gets mad at me.

She pauses before giving me a nod, but I can see her smile start to fade. "Okay."

"How would you feel..." I haven't even had the time to think of how to explain this to her, I've been so worried about Matt. "If I were to get a job."

"A job? Why would you-"

"Let me finish." I say softly. "You're dad's electronic store is hi-"

"No." She says blankly.

"But, Helga-"

"No." She says with a lift in her voice. "You're not working for Bob. I will not have the love of my life under the heel of that blowhard I'm suppose to call a father."

"But Helga, it's the only job that pays enough so I can get you..." Oh crap. Well, there goes the surprise.

Her eyes are a little more open and she lowers her head a bit, "Get me what?" I really don't want to ruin any more of the surprise. I wanted to surprise her completely. I didn't want her knowing that I was getting her a gift, but that dream is gone. "You weren't thinking of getting me a Christmas present, were you?" She says with a shake of her head.

I meet her eyes again and shrug smally. I didn't think she would have a problem with it, but I have a feeling that it's going to take my having to tell her what I'm getting her to stop being mad at me. And I really don't want to do that until I actually have it.

"Arnold, we talked about this." She says and lets her hands fall off my shoulders.

"That was last year, Helga. And I really want to do this for you." She's still looking at me with a half pleading, half angry look, and I can never figure out how she does it. "Look, your dad doesn't know about us, right?" I ask and tug on her waist a bit.

"No."

"Then what's the big deal?" I ask and give her waist another tug until she's pulled into me fully again. "Chances are, he won't even bother to learn my name."

"You know this is going to cut into _our _already scarce time." She says with her eyes on to the part of my shirt that she's picking at with her fingers.

"Helga, we spend almost every spare waking moment with each other."

"I know and it's not enough." She says with her puppy dog look. She's so adorable sometimes. I feel myself smile and my chest fill with warmth from the bright blue in her eyes.

I lean forward and kiss her forehead and wrap my arms around her fully and feel her wrap hers around me, returning my hug. "So, is that a yes?"

She leans back but doesn't let me go, and I'm hoping that our bantering has brought out her lighter side again. "You promise to keep a low profile?"

"I didn't realize I'd be going under cover."

"No, I'm serious, Arnold. I don't want him finding out about us... ever. Okay?"

I let out a sigh and know that she has her own reasons for not wanting him to know about us. I guess it's just one step I can cross off when I do marry her, not asking him if I can. "Okay."

"But," She says and I can see her smile return to her face, "I guess it won't be so bad. You come home after that slave driver has been busting your ass all day, you toss your back brace to the floor on your way up the stairs." She reaches up and starts petting my hair back. I love it when she does this. "You peel off your sweat stained shirt, revealing your... finely sculpted muscles." Okay, now she's really fantasizing, either that or she's just poking fun at me. _I've seen scarecrows with more muscle tone than you, _were her exact words during one of our banter sessions one morning. "You find your, incredibly beautiful, but slightly bitchy girlfriend just climbing through your window, and she says 'Hello my darling. Let me steal your pain away.'"

"Am I a duke and have long, flowing hair in this fantasy of yours?"

She rolls her eyes with a hint of feigned interest. "Maybe..."

"How bout I just come home after work one day, call my beautiful, and very easy to live with girlfriend, who just so happens to be an amazing kisser and has the deepest blue eyes I've ever seen, and just tell her how much I love her?"

Her smile quickly turns genuine, just as I hoped it would and she snakes her arms around my neck again and hugs me. We stay pressing each other into each other for a minute or two with her head laid down on my shoulder, facing into me. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

I laugh lightly and rub my hand up her back. "You'll find out on Christmas, Helga."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Guess whose back! :P **

**I know, it's been way too long. Just been working and moving and stuff. No big deal. Let me know what you think. Sorry for the hiatus!**

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><p>"Thanks for the ride, Dad." I say with a weak smile and push open the car door of their sedan.<p>

"Just give me a call when you get off and your mother and I will take you out to dinner."

I smile a little bit more genuinely and step out onto the side walk. "Thanks Dad. Mexican?"

"Sure, Son. Work hard, okay?"

"I will." I say and shut the door. He pulls away from the curb of Big Bob's Electronic Store and now I'm left nervously standing on the sidewalk with a nervous lump in my throat that won't stop throbbing. I know Helga agreed to this, and finally stopped asking what it is I'm getting her for Christmas, but still, after I put in the application the afternoon after Helga and I talked about it, I got the call that night, and now I can't stop thinking that my girlfriends dad is my boss now.

I knew I should have taken Mr. Potts offer, but he talked to Dad about it and he and Mom both agreed that it would cut too much into school. But I knew they just said that because they didn't want me working at such a dangerous job like demolition.

But thinking about it now, I'd rather stand in a building that's about to collapse than have to take orders from Bob Pataki. Oh well, no backing out now.

I swallow the lump in my throat again but feel it still there when I step through the large glass doors that slid open. I walk up to the front desk and clear my throat to get the salesman's attention. "Hi, I'm Arnold Shortman, I was hired for-"

"Straight back through two doors. Wait for Mr. Pataki to show up like the rest." He said rudely and puts his attention back onto his smart phone in front of him.

"Um... Thanks." I say and move to the back. The store hasn't opened yet, and I don't even know what I'll be doing. I'm so nervous. What if I get something wrong and get yelled at? Then what if I tell Helga about it and she goes to her father and he finds out about us and the he sends her to boarding school and I'll never see her again and...

Okay Arnold, stop. Nothing is going to happen. You're going to move boxes, that's it. Not hard. Not hard at all. I push open the doors to the back and go past some old boxes and a few cleaning supplies shoved against the wall. It's pretty dark and dank back here. I push open the door at the end of the hall and see a group of guys sitting on a bench against the far back wall. There's a pair of loading docks to my left and an office on the right wall where I can see someone sitting at the computer with a cigarette in his hand.

"Arnold?" A voice says from across the room. I look over and see a big smiling face coming from over by the loading docks.

"Harold?" I say happily and throw my hand out to return the hand shake he's offering. We clasp hands and he pats me heavily on the back a few times, knocking the wind out of me a bit.

"How've you been, Buddy?!" He asks me happily and shakes me a few times.

I smile brightly at Harold being here. I don't feel nearly as nervous now. Maybe if I just stick with him, I'll be fine. "I've been fine, Harold. What about you? How's Kimberly?"

He groans and smiles, "A handful. She only likes to sleep in the middle of the day."

"How's Patty doing?" I ask with a little more concern.

"She's uh... handling."

Freshman year, Harold and Patty got together. Just before spring break, it got out that Patty was pregnant. In that week, she was getting so tortured and tormented by everyone, even running out of study hall one day in tears. It was pretty hard to watch. She never did come back after spring break. But after spring break, Harold turned a new leaf. I went to talk to Patty and eventually found her at his house. She said that she was living with his parents now that her's were forcing her to have an abortion.

But now, Patty is taking online classes and living with Harold, with a beautiful one year old baby girl. Harold is having to work nights at Mr. Greens butcher shop, but he lets Harold do his homework if things are slow. "What are you doing here, man. I thought Mr. Green had you working weekends to get ready for Christmas."

"Eh, just a chance to earn a little more money." He says with a shrug and a smile. He may be a lot nicer now that having a baby has calmed him down, but I can plainly see the dark circles under his eyes.

"Well, I'm glad your here, Harold. I don't know about working for Bob Pataki." I say and lean against the wall with my arms crossed next Harold.

"Don't worry about Mr. Pataki too much. He never comes back here that much. He spends most of his time up front."

"How do you know?"

"I worked here last Christmas. It's a pretty easy job."

We talk for a few more minutes. He can't stop talking about his daughter. I'd never thought I'd hear Harold talk baby talk unless he was making fun of somebody. It did take a while for him to get that way though. He nearly got expelled for all the guys he beat up who were making fun of him and Patty. I've seen Harold angry before, but never as angry as he was when some of the other guys in our class that didn't go to middle school with us started on him about the whole situation. I'm just glad that the whole situation is done with and out of the spot light. It took a while though.

I hear the door of the office open and the lengthy guy with an old polo shirt takes one last drag of his cigarette and flicks it into a bucket next to the door. "Alright, everybody line up over here." He says with a heavy accent. He sounds like he's from New York. He even looks a bit Italian. Every body sitting on the bench stands up and struts over to the wall that Harold and I are already leaning against. They look like they're all trying to look tough, but I'm standing next to a six foot three, two hundred seventy-five pound behemoth. "When I call your name, raise ya hand." He says and puts a cigarette behind his ear.

"What's it look like this year, Chuck?" A deep, familiar voice booms from the door next to me. I feel my spine shiver when I look over. How could someone so beautiful come from something so... like him.

"We got Hogan back from last year. Besides that, not much." He replies and looks back down to his clipboard.

My eyes nervously follow Mr. Pataki and I can feel that nervous lump in my throat come back even larger than it was before. I feel like he can smell Helga on me like a wolf sniffing a lamp. He sighs heavily and looks over the guys against the wall. Luckily he started from right to left and Harold and I are on the for right. He hasn't said anything to the other guys, it's like he's doing an inspection. I look down at my shoes and stuff my hands in my pockets. "Don't I know you from somewhere?" A voice in front of me.

I jump a little and look up. He's looking me dead in the eye and I feel like I'm about to crumble for some reason. Alright, just play it cool. "Um... I'm a f-friend of your daughter's, sir."

"How do you know Olga?" He says with one side of his brow raised.

"N-no, your other daughter, sir. Helga?" I feel so small right now.

He squints at me with his meaty arms crossed for a moment. "Oh, now I remember. You're that little orphan boy." I says with a proud smile and a wag of his finger.

I feel my fist clench inside my pocket and my teeth grit. "I have parents, sir." I say with more firmness than I thought I had in me.

"Yeah yeah." He says and walks off.

Our supervisor, the Italian guy with the clipboard calls our names off and gives us our duties. Luckily, I was assigned to unload the trucks with Harold, with the other guys have to bring the boxes into the actual store. The day progresses fairly quickly with Harold and I chatting as we work. He can't stop talking about Kimberly and how cute she is. At break, he shows me all the pictures he has on his phone. Most of them are of just her smiling and giggling on a pink blanket in his living room, but a few of them have him and Patty in them with her.

It's weird, you only hear the bad things about teenage pregnancy. Sure it's not the best time, but judging from the bright smile Patty has on her face when she's playing with her little girl, she nor Harold would change it for the world.

* * *

><p>It's the end of the day, and it's about four o'clock in the afternoon when Harold and I are done. We go to the time clock and clock out and head out the side door to head home. "Hey, see you tomorrow, Arnold."<p>

"Yeah, see you Harold." I say with a wave. Man, my arm feels like it weighs a ton. I turn to head to the front of the store and look for Dad in the parking lot. Hopefully he's here already.

"Pst..."

I stop and look around. Hmm, must have been my imagination. I keep walking slowly to the front of the store. Geez, I'm so beat.

"Pssst!" I hear again.

I stop and look around but I can't see anybody. "Hello?"

"Criminey, Football Head, what do I have to do? Sky-writing?" I hear her say. I turn around and see her leaning against the wall with a soft smile gracing her face. "Get over here and give me details." She says anxiously.

I smile and turn around and drag my feet toward her. I reach for her but she grabs onto the collar of my jacket and pulls me into the alley she was hiding in and behind the dumpster there. She pins me against the wall and mashes herself against me. "What, did you miss me or something?" I say jokingly.

Her eyes have excitement in them and dash from my eyes to my lips. She doesn't give me in answer and instead shoves her lips onto mine while pulling me down by the collar. I lazily keep my hands on her sides as she quickly works her lips over mine in a heated frenzy. You'd think she'd be a little more on edge and cautious when making out in an alley way of her dad's electronic store.

After a few minutes, she gives me one last long kiss and drapes her arms over my shoulders, flicks a few strands of her hair out of the way, and leans into me again. "So... details. What happened?"

"Well, he came out on a carriage drawn by black horses with bright, red eyes, jumped down wearing a long black cloak, and a flail, and says he'd drag anyone who slacks off down to the depths of the underworld."

She chuckles and rolls her eyes. "I'm serious. What did he say?"

"All he did was he come out, looked at us, and asked if he knew me."

"... And?"

"And I told him that I when to school with you."

Her wondering look disappears into an annoyed glare. "He didn't..." She stops when I give her a look that says 'kind of'. "I swear, I can't-"

I stop her and pull her back into me. "Helga, Babe. It's no big deal." I say and gently put my hand on her cheek. "After all, the less he knows about me, the less he knows about us. Right?"

She looks down and puts her arms back around my neck, looking down into the space between us as she closes it. "Yeah."

"So, I have to go out to dinner with my parents, but I'll be back home in about two hours. And as I recall..." I say and brush the few strands of hair that aren't in her pony tail behind her ear, "you had a certain fantasy involving me and you, and you sneaking in through my window to take my troubles away. And I would love it if that fantasy was fulfilled."

She smiles slyly and raises one side of her brow and points her finger in my face. "Two hours."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: So, as you may of noticed, this story is still rated T, and chapter ten remains unedited. **

**I'm sorry to say it's going to stay that way. For a multitude of reasons, but the main on is believability. I've never written in first person limited, or first person period before. And I seem to be getting a really good response to the use of different points of view. And the way I see it, if I were to write an intimate scene like many of you are probably hoping for, I wouldn't really know how to describe it in first person, and still have it so if you were to read it, you'd know right away whose point of view it is. **

**I'm trying my best to keep this fic light hearted and funny as much as possible, but that wouldn't be very captivating, and it would get rather boring rather quickily. So I'm going to start some drama soon. But I will try my best to keep you laughing (if you are laughing at all that is, let me know if you're not and Ill try harder).**

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><p>It's the weekend before Christmas and I'm pretty sure that coming to the mall to search for a present for Arnold now was one of the stupidest ideas I've ever had.<p>

This place is packed and I don't even know what I'm looking for. Ever since he told me that he got me something, and was going to earn the money himself, I've had an itch of guilt in the pit of my stomach for thinking that we'd just go without presents this year. I told him last year that I didn't want to do presents because our relationship was still pretty new to me and I was still getting it to sink in that we were actually together and it wasn't some "I've been hit by a bus and am in a coma in the ICU of Hillwood General" situation.

I couldn't get it out of him what he was getting me, and lord knows I tried. Whenever he got back from his first day at the store and I stole his leftover burrito, he dodged my questions by being adorable, dorky self. I can still see him take the last bite of burrito and stuff it into his mouth and say it's impolite to talk with your mouth full. I laugh and feel a smile split across my face. He's such a dork. But he can make me laugh easier than anyone else in the world.

I decide that maybe if I keep playing back the tickle fight that ensued afterward, maybe an idea for his present will come to me a lot quicker. That and it will stop me from going on a shooting spree.

"Helga?" I hear someone call from just behind me.

I spin around and am pleasantly taken out of my daydream. "Hey Pheebs. What are you doing here?" I ask a little rhetorically and give her a quick hug. I wasn't expecting to see her here. She usually texts me if she's going to the mall because she usually invites me.

"I was just Christmas shopping with-"

"Hey Phoebe, Santa hat or elf hat?" A familiar voice calls out from the entrance of the store we're in front of. I look past her and see _him _squeezing his way past a slew of people. He stumbles out and Phoebe and I are both looking at him. His eyes fall on me and I feel the flutter of butterflies in my stomach to a boiling pot of annoyance in a flash. "Oh... What's up, H-Helga?"

"I uh... didn't know you were here with... _anyone_." I say pointedly and shoot a glare in Gerald's direction. "I'll text you later, Pheebs." I say and start in the first direction I can think of that's away from them.

"Wait, Helga." Phoebe says urgently. I stop and turn around and see that she's taken a considerable step towards me and stuck her hand out to reach for me. "You don't have to leave, Helga. Stay and shop with us. After all, I know how being in a crowd makes you."

I feel a smile fight it's way to the surface despite myself at the fact at how well Phoebe knows me, maybe almost as well as Arnold does. "It's alright, Phoebe. I'll come by tonight though and we can hang out."

I see her shoulders deflate but she smiles at me and nods. "Okay, Helga. Six?"

"Sure." I smile at her again before I flick my eyes over her shoulders and blank my expression to see Gerald's posture stiffen and his smile turn nervous.

I really hope Phoebe picked up on the hidden message that I didn't want her boyfriend there when I came over.

* * *

><p>"Sure." She says in a soft voice that catches me a bit off guard. Man, I've never seen her that nice. I wonder who has more of a calming effect on her, my girl or my man. Wow, I'll have to remind myself never to say that out loud. I see her send me another pair of daggers and I flash the first smile I can think of and she turns and walks off into the crows.<p>

I hear Phoebe sigh heavily and look over to her to see her eyes glued on Helga's direction. "You alright, baby?" I ask and put my arm around her shoulders. She looks up and me with a sad smile and nods.

"Yeah." She says quietly. I almost couldn't hear her over all the people in the mall. I'm glad she agreed to come with me to pick things up for this stupid party that my family is throwing. Personally, I would have stopped at the parking lot then went home. I know somethings wrong, and I think I have an idea what it is. I've been thinking about it for a while and I thought a while back that if I had known that Arnold was going with Helga and was waiting for him to tell me, but he kept holding out on me, I would feel pretty downtrodden too. Downtrodden... that's a good one.

"You're getting sick of her hiding it from you, aren't you."

She looks up at me again with a sad look in her eyes for a moment and looks down to the ground and steps into me, wrapping her arms around my midsection and putting her ear against my chest. I feel her suck in a deep breath and let it out slowly as I hug her back, rubbing her back with one hand. "I'm going to tell her that I know."

I feel my blood stop for a second. "Uh... You sure?"

"Yes. It's only a matter of time before it all comes out anyway. And when it does, she needs someone to be there for her." She says and looks back up at me with a serious expression. She's right, but I didn't want to be the first one to admit that they can't keep it a secret for much longer. Not with that douche bag senior black mailing him. I have Matt for study hall first period, and ever since Arnold told me what the sitrep was, I've wanted to send out my own rumors about the guy.

"And you've thought this all through, right? I mean, I know she's your best friend and all, but... now don't take this the wrong way but, she's still Helga _G _Pataki." Her look turns from wondering to angry in the bat of an eyelash and I stumble to correct myself. "No no, I mean, i-it's just that... Hey, she's my man's girl and I've accepted that, so like I've said before, she needs a place to crash, my couch is open. But, she's still Helga. I'm not sure her realizing that you've been lying to her about you knowing about her lying about her secret boyfriend will go over to well."

"I'm not sure either, Gerald. But she's my best friend, ever since you told me that someone knows and is holding it against Arnold without her knowledge, the only way I can see the situation ending is with their relationship coming out in the open. And the sooner she knows that there are some people who can see past her tough exterior besides Arnold, the better the chances of them _staying _together."

I let out a sigh and wish her good luck to myself, grab onto her hand and start walking again.

"That and I already have my toast written when I'm her maid of honor."

"You too?"

We smile at each other and wrap an arm around each other.

* * *

><p>Ugh, I've spent all day trying to come up with an idea for Arnold's present and I can't think of a damn thing.<p>

I let out a deep sigh and feel the steam from my breath hit against my face. I'm on my way to Phoebe's house, and luckily, Arnold was going to a Christmas party at Gerald's, which means Gerald won't be at Phoebe's house. Better still is that Olga is on her way home tonight. I can gag just thinking about it. I look further down the street to where Phoebe's house is and see someone sitting out on her stoop. I keep walking a few more steps and see that it's Phoebe, sitting on the bottom step with her coat on, looking down at her feet with a frown.

"What'd he do?" I ask, ready to find him and tear him a new one like I've been waiting to.

She looks up to me surprised, but she smiles and waves her hand. "No, nothing. Gerald's at a family Christmas party tonight."

"Then why are you sitting outside? It's freezing out here." I ask and sit down next to her while she pulls her legs a little closer to her chest and looks back down to the ground.

"My parents are wrapping present and they didn't want me to know where they hid them."

"Oh..."

There's a silence that falls between us, and I have a strong feeling that Pheebs has words caught in her throat. I decide that she just needs a minute to work up the courage to ask for relationship advice, about what step her and Gerald should take next or whatever, so I look down at the ground and mirror her position, curling my legs into my chest. I hear her let out a long sigh and look up at the sky.

"Helga, what do you see up there?" She asks me. I look over to her and see her staring intently at the sky. It's dark outside so all I see is black, save for a few stars.

"What do you mean, Pheebs?" I ask, not bothering to look and find what it is she's looking at exactly.

"Up there." She says and points her finger in the sky, leaning over toward me to show me what it is she's pointing at. I lean over and look up, seeing her finger pointed directly at a star.

"It's a star."

She lets out another short breath and puts her arm back in between her legs and chest, but keeping her eyes on the star she pointed out to me. "It's Sirius." She says after a moment. I look over to her and wonder what it is she's getting at. She's sitting out here to talk astronomy?

"Okay..." I say, not really knowing how to reply to something so random.

"It's the brightest star in the sky. About eight point six light years away, making it one of the closest stars to Earth, which is why it's so bright."

"Hmm." I say, a little interested. I didn't know that.

"But what people see as one singular star, is actually two stars... Sirius A and Sirius B." I feel my breath catch a bit in my throat and feel myself freeze. "Sirius A is the star that everyone sees. But Sirius B is the star that orbits with Sirius A, a white dwarf whose size is about the same as Earth's. So what everyone else see's as one star... I see as one star orbiting another."

I feel my hands start to tremble between my chest and my legs, with a million different incoherent words tumbling around my head. I hear Phebe let out another sigh and look down back to the ground.

"I'm not going to force it out of you, Helga." I want to say a million different thing to both deny and defend myself, because this is one of my worst nightmares come true. I want to run away in a million difference directions and hide, telling myself over and over again that I'm going to wake up any minute. "I just thought that..." Wait, why is her voice shaking like that?

Oh no. Why is she crying? "Pheebs?" I gently prod, watching a silent tear fall down her cheek.

She sniffles and keeps her eyes down onto the ground. "I just thought that you trusted me more than that."

I feel my heart drop into my stomach. I never thought of this happening, but now that it actually is happening, I don't know how I could be so stupid to realize that she thinks I don't trust her. "Phoebe, it... it's not that. it-" She looks over to me and she still has tears in her eyes. I don't know what to say. I feel so terrible. Phoebe's my best friend and I just... wow, am I a bitch. "It just sort of happened."

She nods with a sniffle and looks back down to the ground.

Well, I owe her a little more than an explanation. I let out a sigh to try and make my pulse slow down at the realization that I'm about to tell the story of the greatest and only relationship I've ever had. "I was the summer before last, when we were on Rhonda's bond fire." I see her look back over to me, but I force myself to forge on. "I know everyone was asleep so I decided to put on the bikini that I bought but chickened out of wearing that afternoon when everyone was down at the beach. It was pink with this... see through skirt thing that tied around the waist. I was standing on the edge of the water, just miserable because it was the last day of the trip and I had told myself that he would finally get some sense knocked into him and he'd want to be with me. But he just kept fooling around with the guys."

Wow, it's actually getting easier. Maybe if I just keep myself lost in the memories, I'll forget everything else.

"I was on the verge of giving up everything when I heard someone behind me. I turned around and he was standing there awestruck. Like, a godsend, a super hero coming in to make the save in the nick of time. The next thing I knew he was putting his hands on my sides and pulling me in." I feel a wave of warmth wash over me at the memory of his hands on my bare sides for the first time. "That was the first time _he _kissed me. After he pulled back, I got all excited and jumpy and told him to kiss me again, and... I just never felt so free and alive then I did when he pulled me back in and kissed me again with a smile still on face."

"Helga?"

"He's just so good to me, and we have so much fun together and he's always there for me, no matter what without even a second thought or expectation of anything in return, and he sees the best in me and the worst in me but loves me for both of them and wouldn't have me any other way that the way I am and I just... I'm so madly, stupidly, extremely, fairy tale, cheesy romance novel, in love with him."

"I know you are, Helga." She stops me. I look over to her and see her smiling at me.

I let out a sigh to stop the slew of words pouring out of my mouth and decide to go one question at a time. "How long have you known."

"Since Rhonda's bond fire."

I feel my eyes go wide and gawk over to her. "You what?!"

"Give me a little more credit, Helga. We've been best friends since pre school. You'd think I wouldn't notice that you weren't moping around everywhere anymore. You think I wouldn't notice how swollen and puffy your lips are every other day in second period and how dazed Arnold is when I pass him in the hall after first? You think that I wouldn't notice that scent that you carry around with you of being head over heels in love with the boy that you've pined for for as long as you can remember? I'm your best friend, Helga. I know more about you than anyone... besides Arnold, obviously."

"Alright, so you've known all along, but why didn't you say something? You knew I was lying to you about me and Arnold and you kept it to yourself all this time, you're not mad?"

"Well, I'm not happy about it, but I'm not mad, Helga. I know you have your reasons for hiding your relationship from everyone, and I understand them. I just thought that you'd eventually trust me enough to tell me. I mean... we're supposed to be best friends." I feel the lump of guilt shove its way back into my throat and I look back down to the ground shamefully.

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you, Phoebe. It's just..."

"You're protective of your relationship. I get it, Helga. The fewer people who know about it, the fewer people can screw it up. After all, this is the greatest thing that's ever happened to you, and it's yours and his, no one else's."

"...Right." I say honestly. I never realized how much Phoebe gets me. She just summed it up in a few short seconds. We catch each others eyes and smile and look back down to the ground. So, if I'm thinking about this right, she's known about us the whole time, and she hasn't said a thing, to me included. So, she's kept our secret as long as we have. I guess it's not so bad that she knows after all. Thinking back now, I don't know what I was thinking when I thought that she would let it slip to someone else and it would get spread around school.

"So... friends?" She asks.

I look over to her again and smirk. "Yep, best of."

"Can I ask you something, though?" I give her a look that says to go ahead and ask. "What were you really doing at the mall this afternoon?"

"Well, since we agreed that we wouldn't get each other presents last year, he wanted to surprise me and get me something this year. So he took a job at the store to pay for it, but he won't tell me what it is, which tells me that it's big and I'm going to look like a bug if I don't get him something big in return. And I honestly can't think of anything."

"Well..." She says without a beat. I look back over and she has a small smile on her face. "Gerald did mention something last week."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So, most of this chapter is fluff. **

**Emphasis on most.**

* * *

><p>"No, you know, I always figured you for a girl whose attracted to guys who walk around with toothpicks in there mouths and brag about how unnecessarily hairy their bodies are."<p>

She laughs brightly a few times and scoots herself closer toward me. "Nah, I have more of a thing for guys who have toothpicks for arms." She says and puts her fingers around my wrist that's laying next to her shoulder. I let her flop my hand around in the air a few times and we laugh together again.

"Hey..." I say and pull the sheets back, "that's pure muscle, baby." I say and poke myself in the stomach.

"Are you kidding? I could play xylophone on your chest." She mocks and starts running her finger against my ribs.

"Okay, now you're starting to insult me."

"Good, that means it's working." She says with a proud smirk, looking up through the sky light.

"What, don't tell me this line of your well thought out quips has some sort of purpose." She hums and nods, turning on her side and putting her first finger against my side. "Oh yeah, and what's that?"

"To get you into bed."

"Helga, we're already in bed."

"I told you it was working."

Our eyes lock and we smile to each other. I lean over and kiss her deeply a few times. I love it when we banter like this. We usually don't spend this long lying naked in bed, we usually at least put our underwear back as mostly a precautionary measure. But Dad finally got the heat working in my room again so it's pretty warm. I have only the lights that face toward the bed on, so it's a pretty romantic setting. It's two days before Christmas, and we agreed to do presents tonight.

It's pretty late at night, and I don't think we're going for another round. I'm a little worn out, and I can tell by her body movements that she is too. After a few more kisses, she tangles are legs back together with mine, and we end back up with her head lying on my chest and my finger tracing patterns on her shoulder.

"So..." I start, not really knowing how to start this. I've been working for her dad for two weeks now, and the only time I saw him was the first day, luckily. I put the chain on layaway at the jewelry store in the mall about a week ago, and I picked it up this morning. It wasn't until then that I realized that I didn't have her locket. I started to freak out at first, because I really didn't want to sneak into her room with her sister being home. But, just as I was finding a place to hide her present, I found her locket in the drawer I emptied out for her.

I feel her head move against me, "What?" She asks with a light tone.

"Well, you agreed that I could give you your present tonight."

I see a small, warm smile curl onto her lips, and she nods. "Yes, I did."

I kiss her again quickly, "Get dressed and close your eyes." After we slip our underwear back on and our shirts, I scoot myself upright and reach into the draw on the wall where I have her present stashed. She sits back down onto the bed and I climb over to the wall and pause before I open the drawer I have her locket in. "Close your eyes, but don't cover them."

I hear her let out a long sigh, but I can tell she's just trying to play off her excitement. I pull open the drawer and take out the locket, quietly unlocking it to make sure the picture I put in it is in there straight. I close the locket back up and undo the chain and turn around. Gently, I put the locket down for a second to softly pull her hair back. I pick the locket back up and slowly put it around her. The moment I feel the locket touch against her chest, I can hear her suck in a sharp gasp, and I feel a wide smile burst onto my face as I hook the chain back together.

"Okay, open them." I tell her with my hands on her upper arms, leaning forward to see her. I see her bright blue eyes open and immediately go to the gold locket. Her hands shoot up and clasp the locket, with her left hand running down the front. Then, her fingers run up the chain for a moment before she turns to face me. She has an open, beautiful smile splitting across her face. All of those heavy boxes I moved for the past two weeks, worried if her dad would find out about us, all the worry about everything going on at school, her reaction right now makes it all worth it.

"You fixed it."

"Look inside." She bites her lower lip and pops open her locket. I can tell that it's not what she expected. I figured that this part would take a little bit of explaining. "I thought about just replacing the picture with one of just me, and I was going to use the one you sneaked of me on our getaway looking over the balcony."

"I love that picture." She says quickly.

"I know, but then I thought, when you look inside this locket, I don't want you to think of just me. That just seems a little too selfish to me. I want you to think of us."

Her smile gets watery and a bit softer, and her glistening eyes go back down to the locket with the picture of us kissing on this very bed. Her fingers trace the picture for another moment then she looks back up to me. "Oh Arnold, I love it." She reaches up with one hand and pulls me down to her. I was expecting her to push me back down and kiss me senseless. But she's just softly working her lips against mine.

We let our lips sit together in a long kiss before we separate. "I love you, Helga."

"I love you so much, Arnold." She tells me, reaching up to put both of her hands on my jaw and pressing her forehead against mine.

I steal another quick kiss before I wrap my arms around her back and pull her into me. I feel her arms snake around my neck and feel her bury her face into my shoulder. "After all, it was kind of my fault that it broke."

She sniffles a bit from the emotion that I knew she was holding back and leans back to look at me with a confused expression. "What the hell do you mean? I was the one that threw it."

"Yeah, but only because I started going out with Lila."

"Okay, if you want to throw blame around willy-nilly, then it's Lila's fault for saying yes."

"Well, I wish she hadn't. My relationship with her was one of those 'grass is greener on the other side of the hill' situations."

Her smile grows from soft and loving to sly, and I know this smile. This is the smile she gets when she's about to start fishing for compliments. "Yeah? And what about your relationship with me then, huh? Any analogies for this, hmm?"

I smile slyly back and think for a second. "Well, I guess it could be your standard knight in shining armor coming to save a damsel in distress story."

"Oh, _really?_" She says, looking a bit taken back.

"Well, yeah. I know how much you'd love to ride around on a horse waving around a big sword, and I do look pretty good in a dress, if I do say so myself." She laughs brightly a few more times. I love her laugh, it's so bright and room filling. Her laugh is the main reason why I've become such a clown around her. Just to hear her laugh.

She flicks her hair over her shoulder and looks down at her locket hanging from her neck. "Hey, before I forget, set your alarm for seven tomorrow morning."

"Helga, tomorrow's Christmas eve and I'm setting an alarm?"

"Just do it, okay? It's a... surprise." I cock my head off to the side and give her a goofy, suggestive, wondering look. "Not that kind of surprise, you perv." She says on a giggle. "It's part of your present."

* * *

><p>"Helga, can I take this blind fold off yet?"<p>

"Not until I tell you, now quit asking, would ya? I'm trying to drive." I say for the billionth time. I wish he would just trust me on this. Ever since Phoebe gave me this tip, I've been memorizing directions, making phone calls and arrangements, even talking to Miles and Stella about it. After all, they're the ones that had to talk Arnold into it.

I knew it was going to be difficult to convince him to wear a blindfold for a two hour car trip, but I managed to pull it off... somehow. I guess I just have to chalk it up to his trusting nature.

Oh man, his present totally blew me away. I'm pretty sure it literally took my breath away when I felt that old locket touch against my skin again. I haven't worn this locket in, what's it been, five... six years? I was confused why he put his copy of the picture of us kissing inside instead of the one I took of him on our get away. But after he told me that he wants me to think of us, of our relationship and of all the moments that we share together and will share together, and not just of him, it made me feel like I fell in love with him all over again.

I'm also glad that I left my phone behind in his room. I've been MIA from home for a little over a day now, and luckily, Olga's been too busy with work on her phd to worry about it. I wish she would just decide what it is she wants to do. She has no real career path or even a real specific interest of any kind. And I always knew that's why she's still in school, going on her fourth college transfer. So far, it's been everything form marine biology to criminal psychology. It must be whatever reality show catches her attention or something.

But I'm not out here to think about my stupid family problems. I'm out here for him. We should be there in a few minutes. And I just hope that he's not going to get mad at me for dredging up old wounds. Phoebe told me that the last time he was out here, he was so heartbroken. But it's something special I can do for him. Something that money can't buy.

I pull the scrap of paper out of my pocket and read the name I have written down again, and look back up at the sign I'm about to pass. Yep, this is it, this is the place. I put the signal on and pull into the long dirt driveway. It's not all that snowy this year, just a dusting really, and it shouldn't stick around with how warm it is, it's still pretty chilly, but not freezing. I park the car just outside of a large, yellowish house and turn the car off. "Okay, stay right there, and no peeking." I tell him and hop out of the car. I go around to his side and pull open his door, reach down and grab onto his hand, pulling him up and leading up a few steps.

"Helga, where are we... and what is that smell?"

It does smell pretty bad, I'll give him that, but I really hope it will be worth it. I let out a breath to try and steel my nerves, then put my hands on his shoulders and spin him in a circle, just for fun really, then go behind him and slowly pull down the blindfold. I step up to his side to gauge his reaction, but I can tell right away that he's thoroughly confused. "A farm?"

"Mm-hmm."

His brow scrunches together after a moment of him looking around. "I'm getting a strong feeling of-" his eyes widen and I can tell that realization has just slapped him in the face, "deja-vu." His wide eyes shoot over to me and I still can't tell if he's angry with me for bringing him here or not. "Helga..."

"You're not mad, are you?"

All of the sudden, his dumb struck face breaks out into a wide smile.

"You Helga?" A voice calls from the house. We both look over and see a man in his sixties wearing old blue jeans and a flannel jacket standing on the porch with a side smile. I look back up to my boyfriend to see excitement start to fill him, and I quickly grab onto his hand and lead him over to the house.

"Yeah, I'm Helga Pataki, and this is my boyfriend, Arnold Shortman."

"Oh yeah, I remember you, kid. Weren't you the kid with the funny shaped head?" The old man asks, moving the piece of straw to the other side of his mouth.

"I guess you could say that." I barely hear him reply over the sound of my grinding teeth. No one is allowed to make fun of his head shape but _me! _He's given me exclusive rights to the making fun of his head shape. "So, uh..."

"Right this way." He says and starts walking toward an old barn a ways away. "I've got to say, kid, that pig of yours is one of a kind. He was actually the one helping me round up the sheep for about a year. Him and the missus have actually gotten quite fond of each other. But, I'm sure he'll remember you. Animals are like that. You see that thing about that lion getting released into the wild and his owners going to see him again? Amazing, if you ask me." He rambles on.

Arnold's squeezing my hand tighter and tighter the closer we get to the barn, and I can see his eyes already light up with excitement to see his old friend again.

The old man stops a little ways away from the barn and readjusts his hat to sit farther back on his head and puts his hands on his hips. I look over to Arnold to see his dancing eyes fixed on the ajar barn door. Then I hear a loud whistle come from our side where the old man is standing. After a few seconds, feeling Arnold's death grip cut off my circulation, a head peaks out from the bottom of the barn door. I hear Arnold let out a stuttering breath and look over to see a wide smile split his face.

I look back over toward the barn to see his childhood pet bolt out of the barn door at a staggering speed, straight toward him. "Abner!" My adorable boyfriend cheers. He gets down on one knee and holds his arms out, but this pig that was once the size of your average house cat is now about the size of a german shepard, and runs up to him tackles him. "_Omph!" _

I jump a little because his face looked actually pained, but as soon as I make a move to help him up, he breaks out into a giggling fit, with Abner's front feet sitting on his chest and his tongue licking excitedly on Arnold's face. I feel my heart melt at the sight of is bright smile looking up at his old pet pig and scratching his ears. "Hey boy!" He coos.

In the sixth grade, Arnold came to school almost in tears, and I finally got it out of Phoebe, who got it out of Gerald, who was here with him, that his grandparents had told him that Abner was getting to big to keep in the boarding house. He wasn't the small piglet Arnold loved anymore, as much as Arnold refused to give him up. Phoebe told me that he argued with them at first, but eventually conceded. I was still going through my bully phase to give him the comfort that I wanted to. But I think bringing him back here now made up for it.

Lost in thought, I'm broken out of my daze by the feeling of his eyes on me. I give my head a quick shake and look over to him, to see him up off the ground, kneeling down and rubbing Abner's stomach. He smiles softly up to me, and I smile back, hoping I'm conveying how much I love him easily enough.

* * *

><p>This was probably the best break I've had in a long time. Usually, winter breaks go by in a blur. Even last year, it went by in kind of a blue because Helga didn't want to exchange present.<p>

But this year... wow.

Spending almost a whole day with Abner was just so amazing. I even got Helga to play with him after a while. Helga took some pictures of us on my phone for me, and I took some of them. Abner really seemed to like her. He always did have good taste. I don't know how she thought of it, but just the thought that she cared enough to drive me out into the middle of nowhere to see my pet pig from when I was a kid, I have the best girlfriend in the world.

I'm on my way to school, and I'm about to turn into the parking lot.

I have to get in the right mind set. Helga and I mean nothing to each other when we're at school. I have to remember everything that I had a chance to shake off, like Matt knowing about us, like Gerald knowing about us, and knowing about Matt knowing, and Helga not knowing that Gerald and Matt know. I'm not even at school yet and I already have a head ache.

I take a long breath in and out and turn into the parking lot and find the closest parking spot I can. I grab my backpack and climb out of the Packard. There's still the usual groups of people standing outside around their cars. I guess that means I still have a good fifteen minutes before class starts, and luckily, my schedule didn't change at all this semester. I close the car door and start toward the door. I get half way to the door when I feel like someone is watching me. I look over to my left and see a group of girls looking straight at me, one of them is giggling and the other two are looking at me with indifferent expressions.

Hmm, weird.

I shake it off as nothing and pull open the door inside, but still can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched. I stuff my hands in my pockets and make my way down the hall. The further I get down the hall, the more looks I'm getting. Most of them aren't good.

This can't be good.

Oh no... he wouldn't. We had a deal!

My heart jumps into my throat at the thought, and I feel my feet pick up into a much faster walk.

"Hey Arnold!" A girl calls from my side, making me jump.

I look over and feel my heart stop. "Oh, uh..." I start with a shaking voice, "Wh-what's up, Charlotte. " She's in Kathy's clique.

"Nothing, just... saying hi." She says with a wave of her fingers.

I force a smile and keep walking. This can't be happening. We had a deal. Matt got first chair, what more could he want? He wouldn't just go and tell everybody about me and Helga... would he?

I'm shocked out of my thoughts by my phone vibrating in my pocket. I stop and take a quick look around and dig it out to see that I have a message from Helga.

_"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" _


	17. Chapter 17

"Helga... Geraldine... Pataki..." He starts in a slow, steady voice, dressed in a pressed tux with his hair hotly slicked back and a twinkle in his grass green eyes.

"Yes?" I say with my heart trying to punch its way out of my chest.

He kneels down, his eyes fixed on mine, with who knows what keeping me from falling to the ground. "Will you marry me?"

I force myself to look at the velvet box he just snapped open with the ring I've waited all my life for, but all I can focus on is answering him. "Yes." I say over the frog that decided to nest in my throat. "Yes yes, a thousand times _yes!_"

"Helga..."

"Arnold..." I reply, waiting for him to slip the ring on my trembling finger.

"Helga?"

"What?"

* * *

><p>"Helga?" What the hell just happened? "Baby sister, are you awake? You're going to be late for school."<p>

_Ugh! God damn it!_ Right when it was getting good.

"Baby sister?" Olga asks again and knocks on my door.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm up already." I tell her in a groggy and irritated voice that I hope she can hear. If she didn't, she'll probably come in.

"Okay Helga. I made Daddy breakfast and there's some down here for you too."

I push myself up and groan. Why is she still here? I thought she was leaving yesterday. Just my luck.

I force myself to stand up and start dragging my feet toward the door, but stop when my hand reaches for the knob to brace myself against having to face my family for another day. After a few deep breaths, I open the door and turn towards the bath room. I see Mariam just walking out, a little more sloth-like that usual. Sometimes, I actually feel bad for her. "Morning Mariam." I say to her just before I head into the bathroom.

"Morning dear." She replies in her usual weak, raspy voice. She doesn't say anything else and slides the bedroom door shut. She turned into a shut-in this past year, and I've been worried.

I put it out of my mind and go about my normal morning routine, mentally bracing myself against having to go back to school. My schedule didn't change over the break, which means it's the same old same old. At least I'll get to see Arnold for one period a day until the end of the year.

After getting dressed in a pair of tighter than usual blue jeans and one of his plaid button-ups under a sleeveless hoodie, with my hair in a usual pony tail with the usual pair of bangs, I head down stairs to see Bob shoveling food into his face like the barbarian he is, with Olga looking like her usual perfect little self, standing in front of the sink with an apron on. "Good morning, baby sister."

I sigh to let my frustration vent before I answer her. "I'm seventeen, Olga."

"You will always be a baby to me though, Helga." She says like it's suppose to be a joke.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to school now." I say, hoping to end whatever conversation Olga has planned before it gets started.

"Dressed like that?" She stops me. I feel my fists clench and the urge to start audibly seething boil up inside me.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. My nun's outfit is at the cleaners so... I'm gonna go with this." I retort with an eye roll and keep walking toward the door.

"Wait, Helga, I-" She says as I close the front door.

I let out another long sigh and pull out my phone, put in my ear buds and turn on some No Comply to sooth me. Damn, I wish I could sing like Kelly Kemp, or at least scream like her.

The walk to school yields nothing new. The same chumps sitting on the front steps, the same pricks leaning against their cars, et cetra. I breath in the last breath of crisp air I'm going to get all day and let it out slowly, hoping it will take my anxiety with it. I reach into my pocket and turn up my music like I usually do, and mentally brace myself for the eyes that I know are watching me. But... somethings off. I cast a quick glance ahead of me to see a pair of cheerleaders glaring at me. It's not the usual 'you don't belong on this earth' glare. It's more hateful, and... directed, somehow.

I just glare back, look back down at the ground and start up the stairs.

I get to the third step when I feel more eyes on me. I'm feeling so watched right now that I stop and look over my shoulder to see everybody staring at me. A few of them giving me the same hateful glare I was just given, a few others giving me more of a confused look that still has a bit of anger behind it. Or maybe something like jealousy.

I huff out a breath, shake my head and jump up the steps, focusing on the lyrics that No Comply is singing into my ears. I start down the hall toward my first period but there are more people staring at me than there usually are. _"It's gotta suck when you know it means nothing, but still, you gladly give yourself a one-" _"Headphones out, Miss Pataki!" I hear muffled over my music. I sigh and pull out my earbuds and press pause.

"Fascist." I mutter.

"How'd she ever get _him?_"

I stop dead in my tracks and echo what I just heard in my head. I look over to my side and see another pair of cheerleaders hugging their books to their chests and giving me the same hateful glare that everyone else is. I'm hearing things again... Yeah, that's it. They're not talking about me. How could they? No one knows about us...

I shake off my nerves and continue down the hall, focusing on channeling my anxiety into anger. I get past a few doors without noticing any glares, but I see some puny freshman girl giving me a weird look. "Take a picture. It'll _fucking _last longer!" I snap. She cowers and turns back toward her locker. I continue down the hall a little more proud of myself. I forgot what bullying felt like.

"Hey Helga." I hear a guy say from the side, with a suggestive tone. I send daggers to where I heard the voice and see some jock leaning against the wall with a shit eating grin on his face. "You wanna hang out sometime?" I says with a toss back of his head.

I just lift my middle finger up to him. "Sit on it, bitch." I spit.

I'm half way down the hall and the chatter is still going on, and it isn't until I pay a little more attention to what it is they're saying that I start to hear his name.

"What does Arnold see in her, anyway?"

"Do you think they've slept together?"

"I think he just feels bad for her."

"I always thought Arnold was gay. I didn't know he was going out with Pataki."

It isn't until I hear the bell buzz over my head that I realize I'm speed walking down the hall. I turn the corner to go into the stairwell nobody uses and end up shoving a kid to the floor. "Move it, fish face!" I spit and slam my way into the stair well, digging out my phone with shaking hands.

In a panic, I pull up out messages from last night and text him with shaking fingers.

This is not happening!

* * *

><p><em>"Hey baby. Code red, I need your help." <em>

_"Yeah, I already heard. I've been dodging questions all morning. What should we do?" _

_"I'm still working on it. Arnold won't answer my texts. Have you seen Helga?" _

_"She wasn't in second period. I'm thinking she cut class." _

_"You handle her. I've got a few things in the works that I'm hoping will sooth things over." _

I lock my phone and slide it back into my pocket. It's third period and I'm in study hall, I told the guys I usually sit with that I needed to study for a test next period. Like we have tests in gym.

Well, we both knew it would come to this. That it would come out, and when it did, it wouldn't be pretty. I've never heard so many people talking about the same thing. Everybody knows me and Arnold are best friends, so I've been getting hounded by questions all day. Especially since some people know my girlfriend's best friend is Helga. I'm worried.

I've never seen them together, except for a few pictures Arnold shown me, and what Phoebe told me Helga said when she came clean to her. But I know one thing. She makes my bro happy, and that's enough for me. And I know Arnold told me he'd handle Helga on his own if something like this did happen, but I need to act. "Pst, Stink..."

He looks up from his notebook over to me.

Mr. Schuster keeps us on a short leash, so I need to do this quietly. And Stink is the one person I know that doesn't have any preconceived judgements about anybody that he's holding on to. But he also knows how to get the word out. I've never been able to figure out how though, but quite frankly, I don't care right now.

I hold the folded note off to the side and he takes it from me from his desk across from me. He opens it and nods, then takes out his phone, hiding it behind the person in front of him.

* * *

><p>This has been the worst day of my life.<p>

I already know Helga has ditched school by now. She hasn't replied to any of my texts. She only sent me the one.

I'm on my way to third period, and for once, it's a good thing my girlfriend won't be in there. That is... if she still is my girlfriend after today. "Hey Arnold." I hear a voice next to me say. I look over and harden myself inside.

"Hey Rhonda." Rhonda hasn't really changed. I'm just surprised that she's still attending public school.

"So, is it true?" She says and touches my shoulder in some kind of motion of being interested in business that isn't any of hers.

"Is what true, Rhonda?" I say in a low tone.

"About you and Helga!" She says and steps in front of me. "Come on, Arnold. I'm the one that told you you two would end up together."

Huh, I forgot about that. "No, Rhonda... we're not together. Things haven't changed from elementary. She still hates me." I say and step around her. I've been telling people that all morning. But I guess I'm not completely lying. She probably does hate me now. I sigh to try and get this tightening out of my chest and turn into third period and take a seat in my old seat in the back and bury my face in my arms. How could I let this happen?

"Hi there, Arnold!"

Wait... I know that voice. I look up and see a familiar smile. "Olga?" What is she doing here?

"That's Ms. Pataki, Arnold. I'm subbing for Mr. Morrison this semester."

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><p><strong>AN: I know this chapter is short, and I also know that after the last chapter, and with my hiatus, that you deserve at least a thousand more words, but this chapter has been sitting in my doc manager for a while and I just got back into writing, put the finishing touches on it, and decided to post it. I'll start on the next chapter as soon as possible. **

**By the by, if you don't know who No Comply are, or who Kelly Kemp is, I IMPLORE you to look them up. They are an awesome band that I think fits this version of Helga the best. **

**And as always, your reviews keep me writing. The more reviews that come in, the more words and chapters you guys get on a more frequent basis.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Next installment of Not a Soul! is here. **

**Please keep the reviews coming. It lets me know you're still reading, and that you're still intrigued and want to see where the story is going and where it's going to end up. Helpful reviews are always appreciated as wall, something more than 'good chapter, next please', stuff like that. :)**

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><p>My lips move against his in another long, smooth motion that I can hear makes his chest heave. He's gotten so much better at kissing, and he knows exactly what do to with his hands now. Not groping or squeezing, just caressing my body in such a way that he hits all of the right spots in just the right order. He just moved his hand from my side and slide it over my stomach and back around over my side, his thumb just grazing the territory that he's been too afraid to just go for. His thumb grazing the bottom of my bra by accident is the closest thing we've come to second base so far.<p>

We've been sitting on his couch making out for about ten minutes, and my blood is getting so restless in my veins that I can't stand just sitting next to him anymore. The urge to do something more is getting unbearable.

And he's never pressured me, at all. He's always been very patient about us, physical and otherwise. He's just-

Oh, wow... he's never done that with his teeth before.

He cups my cheek and releases my lips and I can feel him holding me in place. I open my eyes and see his lips are curled up into a puffy smile. "Helga..." He starts, in a low tone. My heart starts pounding at his tone, because I can tell that he has something important to say. "We've been dating for a year now and I've..." He chuckles and still won't look me in the eye, but won't let go of my face. It wouldn't scare me this much if it didn't look like he was about to have a heart attack. So I reach up and put my hand over his just as his thumb moves across my cheek bone. "Well, I've never felt like this."

"Heh... neither have I." I say and shuffle myself toward him.

"So... my question is..." He pauses and reaches down to take my other hand in his, moving his thumb over my knuckles. Oh crap, he's never been this romantic. What is he about to ask me? "What would you say..." He takes in a shuddering breath, and it isn't until then that I realize that his sweaty hands are trembling against mine. He must be terrified. "If I were to tell you that I love you."

Oh my god.

Oh my god, it's really happening. He really said it. _Arnold said he loves me! _Am I smiling? My face feels like it's about to split open but I can't tell if I'm smiling. Say something. He asked you a question, stupid! Answer him! "I'd ask you to pick me up off the floor and say it back."

His light chuckle seems to fill the room, and his hand is still trembling against mine. "Helga, this past year of being together," He starts and scoots closer to me. "I mean, we've known each other our whole lives, but it isn't until this year that I've realized that these past sixteen years... I haven't even scratched the surface."

"Arnold..." My voice is shaking so much that I don't know if he understood me or not. I'm going to say it. I _am_ going to say it. He said it, so I'm going to say it back.

"Helga, if I'm coming on too strong, or if I'm being to clingy or making you uncomfortable then just-"

"Shut up." I finally see his eyes snap back up to me and hopefully I'm still smiling, my face still feels numb. My entire body is telling me to. We've been together for a year, today, and in the back of my mind, I've told myself us being together wouldn't be like I always dreamed it would be. But it's been so much better. I've fallen in love with him so much and... he just told me that he loves me.

I let out the breath I've been holding since he opened his mouth and lean forward, capturing his lips in a hard kiss, hearing him suck in a quick breath. My lips go off on their own, while my hands move to his face and pull him toward me. And it isn't until the thought enters my brain that I realize that my legs are moving to straddle him. Holy crap, I bet that was hot. I've never straddled him before. I coil my arms around his neck and I feel his hands start to roam my back. "That... was so..."

"Cheesy?"

"Romantic." I answer him. "Arnold, you have no idea how long I've waited for you to say that to me. And I can't believe I'm surprised that you remembered."

"How could I forget today, Helga? One year ago today, I got to share the best, and... quite frankly, hottest first kiss with the most beautiful girl I've ever known. That and I kind of... marked it down on my calender six months ago."

Oh... shit. That's it, we're doing it. "I love you, Arnold. I'm in love with you. I've been in love with you. I've been in love with you for as long as I can remember. And I know that I've told you about the crush I had on you, and the... well the veritable stalking of you I did, and the shrines, and the worshiping and... o-oh wow, I-I'm not making much of a case here, am I?" He's still smiling like the goof he is and he still has that sexy gleam in his eyes and his hands won't sit still. Deep breaths, Pataki."This sounded a lot better in my head."

"Helga, if... if this is... going where I think you want it to go... then it might change everything."

"It will change everything, Arnold." I say and pet his hair back. I've noticed he always gets this glazed look in his eye whenever I do that. "We just have to make sure it will be for the better."

"But Helga, I mean, this is... you're serious about this, aren't you?"

"Arnold, I want us to be together." Why am I not scared? I've always heard that it's scary.

"So do I, a _lot_, but... I want us to be together... safely." The subject he's talking about catches me off guard a bit, so I stay silent, having no idea how to respond. "I mean... you remember what happened to Harold and Patty."

I feel my heart sink at the memory of our freshman year. Man, freshman year sucked. "Yeah."

"It's alright though. I've heard that the first time is always terrible, anyway."

"Oh yeah, it's gonna be terrible." I say with a lift in my voice. He always knows what to say and how to say it. He knows when to be serious and when to crack a joke, knows exactly when I need a laugh. I didn't expect our first time to be any different.

"Yeah, if anyone asks, just tell them it was like two new born giraffes tackling each other."

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><p>I laugh and curl my arms tighter around my legs at the memory of that afternoon.<p>

We took it slow and he was very patient and romantic about it. I never did ask how he knew exactly what to do to take my fears away, but he did it without any trouble at all. The way he told me to keep my eyes focused on his, and how he held my hand the entire time. Yes, it was terrible, and didn't last very long for either of us, but we made up for it the day after.

But it's all over now.

As over as I'll let it get anyway. I can't really break up with him when I'm hiding on his roof. We've spent a lot of time up here, wrapped in a blanket just looking up at the dark sky. I'd lean my head down on his shoulder and he'd put his down against mine and we'd end up kissing slowly and sweetly.

I don't know how everybody found out about us, or how much they found out about us. But they did. A part of me always knew they would when we decided to keep it a secret, but I never imagined the fallout would be this bad. I cut school after first period when I couldn't take the looks and whispers any longer. I kept my death stare in place and doubled the intensity to avoid getting asked questions. But I ditched when it was getting worse during passing period.

I see my phone light up down at my side and see that I got a text from Phoebe.

I'm so glad I didn't give my number to that many people. I take a deep breath and pick my phone up. _Hi Helga, come down to Slausen's. There's something I need to talk about. Please. _

I take a long, deep breath and set my phone back down, making no motion to get up off the ground.

I jump when I hear the door up to the roof open. I look over and see Arnold's grandma making her way over to the piano they set up here when we were kids. She doesn't seem to notice me and walks over to the piano and sits down. I've heard her every once in a while and she's really good. I've always thought that it's from her that Arnold gets his love of music from. She starts playing an upbeat melody and I decide to close my eyes to try and let it close everything else out.

"Evenin', young lady." I hear her say over the piano melody she's still playing.

I look up and she's looking over to me. "Hi."

"What's got ya down?"

I have no intention of scaling the wall I've built around myself, so I shake my head and look back down to the ground. "Nothing."

"Well, nothing must be beating you down pretty hard for you to look like that, Helga."

What? She knows my real name? I've always assumed she was too out there. "You-"

"I may be a crazy old lady, but I'm no looney." She smiles and I see her slide over, stopping her playing. I hear her pat the bench, gesturing for me to come join her. I try to harden myself but I'm standing and walking over there anyway. I nervously walk over and sit as close to the opposite edge of the bench as I can. "It's my grandson, isn't it?" She says in a tone that I've never heard from her. I can see a lot of Arnold in her now.

I chuckle a chuckle that I'm surprised feels real and nod. "Yeah, you could say that."

She lifts her fingers back up to the keys and starts playing the same upbeat melody as before. "Well, what ever he did, don't be to hard on him. I've been around these Shortman men for almost ninety years now and their skulls are about as thick as buffalo hide."

Did she say ninety years? "How long have you been married to Phil, exactly?"

She continues her happy melody on the piano with her aged and boney fingers. "I stopped keeping track after about fifty years."

"How long ago was that?"

"About twenty years ago." Holy _crap_. Her and Arnold's grandpa have been married for seventy years? I've always known that their marriage was a rock, but I never knew that they've been married that long. "So... what's your secret?"

She laughs and shakes her head. "Ain't no secret, deary. All these doctors nowadays don't get it. Me and Steely just love love each other, that's all. He's been there for me, I've been there for him. No big deal. Why you ask, deary?"

"Just... no reason." I shirk her question and look away.

"You and my grandson will be fine, hun. Take it from an ol' coot like me." She plays another happy melody on the piano, but stops right before it resolves, and I can feel an itching in my throat when I don't hear the note I'm expecting. "Hit that key for me, deary." She says and puts her finger on a key on my end of the piano.

I reach up and press down on the key and finish the melody, and feel myself actually smile. "Thanks, Gertie."

"Deary, you were made an honorary member of our family a long time ago." She says and puts her skinny arm around my shoulder. "Call me Grandma."

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><p>"Hey Gerald, what's wrong?" I ask in a panic, running through the doors of Slausen's. I see him sitting in a booth next to Phoebe in the back.<p>

"Hey bro, glad you could make it. We just wanted to clear the air."

I start toward the booth, and feel my breath catch. I didn't see her when I walked in, but now that I do, I feel a mix of dread and guilt. "Gerald, what's going on? Last time you texted me '911', you lost Timberly at the mall."

"Just sit down, man. We all need to talk."

Helga is sitting smashed against the wall with her arms crossed, wearing one of the many plaid shirts I let her steal from me with a blank expression on her face, not looking at me. I hesitantly sit down, giving her as much room as I can. "Okay."

"So... here's what's going on. A couple months ago, a guy named Matt found out about you two," I feel Helga send a glare at me but I just look down to my lap in guilt, "and he's been black mailing you to keep you're secret. Turns out that he hooked up with Kathy over break and he spilled. But don't worry, I had Stink get the word out that Kathy's been stepping out on him with a few other guys. But, we need set the record straight, okay?"

"Okay." I say and am still afraid to look to my right to her. I just hear her sigh a long, frustrated sigh.

"Helga... do you remember what you told me when I told you that I knew?" I look over to Phoebe and see her giving Helga a hopeful look. I then look over to her, and feel my chest tighten when I notice how pretty she is. She has her hair tied back, but there's a part of her hair that's hanging out in front of her eyes and it makes her look so pretty. She nods and still doesn't look at me.

I take a deep, silent breath and prepare myself. "Babe," I say and look over to her, "I know I've kept secrets. And I'm sorry." She finally looks over to me with a sad look in her eyes. "Matt saw us kissing the night I dropped you off after our getaway." Her expression turns pained and she turns back away, but I can't stop now. "I should have told you about everything, Helga. But I was just trying to protect you."

"Protect me?" She asks in an angry voice. "I can take care of myself, Arnold. I told you this would happen if anyone found out about us. I told you they wouldn't understand."

"But Phoebe and Gerald have known for months and they're trying to help us."

"Me and Gerald hate each other!"

"Ahem, uh..." Gerald starts, and we both look over to him. "I not holding any grudges, so if you can look past the fact that you tortured us as kids, then I can respect the love you have for my best friend. You make him happy, which is more than enough for me to make you alright in my book." I smile at the fact that Gerald is trying his best to be friends with my girlfriend and look back over to her.

"Still doesn't negate the fact that the whole school wants to crucify me for being with you."

"Well, I don't think anyone is going to do anything drastic when your older sister is teaching." Phoebe says.

"When my what is what!?"

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><p><strong>AN: Next chapter will have a bit of a time jump. Simply because if I tell all of the story and play it out over a number of chapters, this story will turn out _way _longer than I want it to, and most importantly, it will lose its humor. And that's why I started this story, to make you laugh. **


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Been quiet lately, I know. Cold and flu season, give me a break.**

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><p>"We have a quiz today, Helga."<p>

I am two seconds away from opening the car door and rolling out into traffic. My brick headed sister isn't getting the fact that I don't want to talk to her. She's been driving me to school for a month in a half, and it's been a month and a half of hell. She keeps talking but I just tune her out and stare out the window.  
>My life has gone to hell.<p>

It's hard to imagine that two months ago, Arnold and I were having one of our tickle, banter, lazy love making sessions. We haven't spoken much to each other, and Phoebe finally stopped trying.

But he lied to me. He said everything was fine. He lied to me for a month.

The thing that makes us work is that I always knew I could count on him. Even when we were kids, I knew I could count on him to be there, and to be honest with me. That's how I fell for him in the first place, I was there for me. But he lied to me.

We didn't break up, really. I think we're just having a long, drawn out fight, without the fighting. I know that we can't be broken up when I still wear my locket, with out picture inside. I wear it everyday, and I look at it everyday, longing for the time when it was just a matter of minutes when I knew I could live that moment again. Not a matter of hope.

I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. It's all because of my pride, I think. I think that there's a part of him that just wants to say screw it and slam me up against a locker and kiss me in front of everybody. Lord knows I've had that dream more than once. And I know that it's all because of my stupid hatred of admitting that I'm wrong that I'm still refusing to go crawling back to him, and just go back to how we were before. Loving each other in secret.

And the fact that my sister is a long term substitute at my school makes the whole situation even worse. I'm just lucky that she's an oblivious bimbo. And god, if I have to overhear one more dickhead say what they want to do to my sister, I'm going to explode. I think it's just lucky that most people don't make the connection that she's my older sister.

I feel the car stop and snap back to reality. We're parked in the back of the school, next to the other teachers cars, and I still hear her yapping in my ear. I simply grab my backpack off the floor of her car and get out. I know that I've complained about my sister not knowing what she wants to do with her life, but did she have to decide what she wants to do and screw with mine in the process?

* * *

><p>You know how when you break up with someone, or when you're mad at them, all the things that you've looked over, or ignored to make the relationship work are the only things you can focus on?<p>

That's not happening now.

I miss her so much.

This has been the worst two months of my life. Gerald tried to help me through it, and get my mind off of it, taking me out with the guys, but it's not the afternoon or the weekend that's hard.

It's lying in bed that's the hardest. Because before, we'd text each other good night, I love you, or we'd talk on the phone, and that was when we weren't together. I haven't talked to her in what seems like a life time. And I know my parents know somethings wrong. I know they know by now.

Grandpa got it out of me two weeks ago, and I know he told Mom and Dad.

I'm zoned out by the time I reach school and park the packard. It's making noises again. Might be a... timing... coolant... thing. I need a new hobby. I'm so bored when I'm at home now. There's no work around the boarding house anymore since I've spent the last two months asking Dad for stuff to do, just to try and keep myself occupied.

"Arnold!"

"_Huh!_" God, I need to focus.

"I asked if you wanted to hang out after school. Play some video games or something." He asks and shuts his locker.

"Oh, uh..." I need the distraction. Gerald massacring me at video games might... cheer me up. "Sure, sounds great, man."

Oh... god.

She's coming. My chest flutters and I feel my grip on the door of my locker tighten. Her sister must have been late. She's usually in French when I'm at my locker, and I don't have to look at her. Looking at her is hard, as of late. She keeps her cold stare in front of her, as coldly walks past me. When she turns the corner and yells as someone for getting in her way, which was usually me, I wish it was me, I slam my locker door and bang my head against it.

"What's wrong, bro?" Gerald asks.

I let out a long breath and clench my teeth. "It's the hair."

"I know, ever since she cut it, she's been-"

"So _incredibly_ hot." I finish.

I can feel him looking at me. I open my eyes and look over, seeing him giving me a surprised look. "You like her new short hair cut? I thought you liked her... long golden locks of silky... gold."

"I know, I know but... the way it's layered in the back, and the way her bangs come down, it... brings out her facial features that she likes to hide behind her long hair. And the way she always wears almost no make up because she doesn't like to show her feminine side much because she thinks it as a way of conforming to society, and her bangs hide but, strangely bring out her sapphire eyes, it-"

"Bro... you're lucky we're late for first period and there's nobody who can hear you. Now if I have to hear you go on like that one more time about something else about her again, I'm going to decapitate myself with a lunch try." He wraps his arm around my shouldrs and shakes me bit, dragging me down the hall. "Come on, man, you'll get her back."

* * *

><p>It's the last period of the day, and we have a sub today. So I'm guessing it's a free period.<p>

Class continues for another ten minutes, and every one's generally talking amongst themselves. But I'm just staring down into my text book, mindlessly pretending to read so people will leave me alone.

"Hi Arnold."

I was doing so well. I know who it is, and I guess it's the best and worst thing that can happen in the span of this hour. I look up and give a small smile. "Hi Lila."

Lila and I dated for a bit in middle school, but it never amounted to anything. She never wanted to go out. She was very shy about being seen together. She never did tell me why. Not even when I broke up with her. "Is everything alright, Arnold?"

"Fine, Lila, why?" I say coldly and look back down to my book.

"It's just... you don't seem like yourself."

Well, duh, I haven't- "I'm fine, Lila." God, don't think that _here! _"I'm just tired is all."

"Oh... okay." I see her look down in the seat in front of me, but she doesn't turn back around. "Hey Arnold, do you ever wonder what happened to us?"

"Lila, I thought we had this conversation before." I say and look up to her again. "For seven months, you never wanted to leave the house. We never even went out on an actual date. We only kissed a few times, and the most foreplay we ever did was... well, we were in middle school, so holding hands on the way home from school. And I know that you've heard rumors, but I'm not seeing anyone, I haven't been seeing anyone, and I'm not in a place right now that I feel like seeing anyone, especially someone I've already seen."

I lean my head against my hand and sigh. That didn't come out right.

"I'm sorry, Lila. I-I uh... didn't mean it. It's just that I've been uh... stressed."

She's been silent for about a minute now, but she hasn't turned back around. She looks worried. She looks off to her sides and scoots her desk closer to mine. "Arnold, can I tell you something?"

I sit up in my desk a bit. "Sure, Lila."

"There's a reason I didn't want anyone to see us."

"Yeah, because you were embarrassed of me." That's what I always thought.

"No, because I didn't want her getting jealous."

"Who would get..." Oh no. She can't know. How on earth does she know? "No..."

"I knew that if she saw us together that she'd... get hurt. I mean, she _liked you_ liked you."

"You knew that she-"

"Yes."

"_Why didn't you say anything?!" _I ask in a harsh whisper. Why did she even agree to go out with me?!

"Because she said that she'd strangle me if I ever told anyone. I was ten, I was scared." I'm speechless at this point. She knew all along. Who else knew? Did everybody know but me?

"When did she tell you?"

"She wanted my spot in the play in elementary."

Oh, my god. She's told me absolutely everything. And I've told her absolutely everything. "She wanted to play Juliet so she could... _That's _why she kissed me for so long. I knew she was lying." I say and lean back in my chair with a sigh.

"So... it's all true?" She asks me, and I'm not sure if I can really tell her. She seems to already know. And it's Lila. From what I hear, she's going out with Sid.

"For almost two years now." I say in a low tone.

"So... I'm guessing you _like her _like her?"

I feel a smile on my face now, and I look back down to my text book I was pretending to read a minute ago. "I uh... _love her _love her."

* * *

><p>"I'm going to be here for a while, Helga, so-"<p>

"Yeah yeah, Phoebe's meeting me outside and where going over to her place. Let Bob and Mariam know to not wait up."

I walk outside and across the street where I can see Phoebe waiting for me. "Hi Helga. You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm-" _God! _What the hell! The horn stops and the guy waves his arms in the air and my fuse is gone. "_God! __Are you blind!? I'm fucking walking! Get your head out of your fat ass!" _I send my hands down into his hood again and he honks. Dumb ass almost hit me.

I walk all the way across the street and Phoebe has a shocked but worried look on her face. "That was uh... close. Are you alright, Helga?" She asks and puts her hand on my back as we start walking down the street.

"Yeah, I'm just... stressed."

"Well, the rumors seemed to have died down."

"No, Pheebs. I'm... _stressed._" I draw out.

"What are y... _oh. _I-I'm sorry... Helga." I choose to remain silent and decide to brood all the way to her place. We've never had this long of a dry spell. I had a flashback today in Chemistry about the time when I sneaked into his room one afternoon to find him walking in with a jar of whipped cream. He was his parents had gone to the store and... wouldn't miss it. God, that was fun. "Helga, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Pheebs." I say and snap myself out of the flashback again.

"How uh... l-long did you... wait."

I stop dead in my tracks and grab onto her arm. "Did he pressure you? Did he make a move?! What did that bastard tell you?! I swear to god I-"

"_No _no, Helga, Gerald didn't do anything!" She says and latches onto my shoulders, keeping my still. "I was just... asking."

"Oh... well," I don't want to tell her that ever since we first started, we've been like jack rabbits, that's hardly good advice. "Arnold and I waited a year."

"Oh." Phoebe looks down to the ground and has a nervous look on her face, and I know what her next question is going to be. "What was it like?" There it is.

"The first time? Awful." What am I supposed to tell her? The first time will be magical and full of fairy dust and rainbows with Eric Clapton in the background?

"It isn't... always... awful, is it?"

"Not with Arnold." Slips out. She has a lot of questions, and I know that's she's asking about when to take the next step in her relationship. And she's asking me because Arnold and I have been together for this long.

"So... all those stories that the girls tell... aren't..."

"Well, Pheebs, I'm not a slut. And Arnold and I didn't sleep together to prove that we love each other. We slept together because we love each other. And as far as skill goes, from the stories I've heard those balloon heads tell, me and Arnold are the best."

"So, what's... it like?" She asks nervously and with a mad blush. This must be so embarrassing for her. Okay, keep the details to yourself.

"Well, suffice to say that Arnold's uh... very... aware."

We share a chuckle and continue to her house talking about nothing. She brought up my hair and asked if I was going to let it grow out again, and I told her I haven't decided yet. In reality, I'm thinking of keeping it for a while, because I've seen how Arnold is drooling over it ever since I cut it. Weird, since I always thought that I loved fiddling with it. But I kind of like how it looks.

We hang out for a few hours doing homework, and I'm reluctant to head home. It's almost seven and my phone started buzzing about twenty minutes ago. I'm not even going to answer her. She's probably just calling me to tell me she's making me another something made of either soy or turkey.

* * *

><p>Mmm... what time is it?<p>

I squint as tight as I can and lift my arm up to move the alarm clock to where I can see it. Man, who is calling me at one in the morning?

I throw my hand down onto my phone and lift it up to see my girlfriends smiling face and shoot up. She wouldn't dial accidentally, she sleeps with her phone on her nightstand. Scared, I answer. "Helga?"

"Come get me." She says in a low tone.

"Helga, what's wrong?"

"_Just..._" She says in a harsh voice, "come get me... now."

"O-okay, don't worry. I'm on my way."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I got Helga's hair idea from a fan art sketch I saw on tumblr. I do not take credit for the picture in anyway. I'm sure you can still find it in the Hey Arnold! tumblr tag. That's where I saw it. **

**Sorry, I have a thing for girls with short hair.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Very surprised about how many reviews the last chapter got. Thanks for all the support! **

She sucks in another soiled breath and lets out another wave of sobs, breaking my heart.

She's been sobbing into my lap for almost half an hour now. I just keep my left hand petting her hair, and my right hand moving up and down her back, whispering soothing words every once in a while when it gets bad. She scrunches her hands into my flannel pants and tries to hold it in, but I know she's about to break again. "Shh, shh, shh, it's going to be okay." I say, in a petty attempt to calm her down.

When I got to her house, and ran past the barricade the police had put up, she saw me and started to fast walk toward me and flung her arms around my chest and buried her face into my shoulder. I had a million questions going on in my head, but when cupped her cheek and pushed her back to ask, I some how just knew what had happened. She didn't say anything but to get her out of there. I kept her hugged into me and ushered her into the packard. We came upstairs, sat down on the couch... and she broke.

I've never seen her like this. My Helga was always so strong and so resilient, but I knew there would come a time in our relationship where this would happen, whether it be her dad yelling at her or something having to do with Olga, and I always thought I would be prepared. But I don't know what to do.

She sniffles and moves her face against my leg, and at first I think she's trying to shake my hand off her head, but after a few more twists and turns of her neck, I realize she's just wiping her tears off on my pant leg. I put my hand back on her hair and continue to pet her in the same long, slow, and what I hope is soothing motion.

After another twenty minutes, she calms down a bit, but I can tell she's still very emotional. "Hey." I say gently. She turns and looks up at me with red, tired eyes. "Come here." I say and usher her up. She slowly moves up and climbs on my lap, sitting so her legs are going the length of the couch and she's sitting in my lap with her arms around my neck and her head laying on my shoulder. I have one arm around her, continuing my up and down strokes, and have my other hand running on top of her old denim jeans, which I remember are her favorite pair.

It's about two thirty in the morning, but I'm not tired. I know she is though. She sniffles again and moves her arm to wipe from under her nose, and I take a chance and kiss her forehead. I look over and reach for the remote. I remember I was listening to some sooth, soft jazz this afternoon when I was doing homework, so I flip on the stereo, and Eric Clapton's cover of Autumn Leaves comes on. I remember it's one of her favorite songs that we both like.

I'm not going to try and talk to her about it now. I want to know what exactly happened, and from what I remember while I was there, I'm so glad she called me, and I was able to get her out of there.

Another twenty minutes pass, with the soft music playing, and when I look down to her tired, emotionally exhausted face, she's fast asleep, amazingly. I don't think I could sleep if I went through what she went through. My legs are asleep, but she doesn't weigh much at all, and it isn't that far to the bed. I move my arms to pick her up and gently stand up with her, and she instinctively tightens her arms around my neck. I slowly walk her over to the bed and gently set her down, moving the covers over her and settling her in, but stop when I notice something had fallen out of her shirt.

Huh, after being broken up for two months, I can't believe she still wears her locket.

I pet her hair again and kiss her forehead, more for me this time, and start out of the room to go downstairs. I know at least one of my parents is awake. I made a little noise when I was heading out. I make my way downstairs and find the kitchen light on, with Dad sitting at the table. "What happened, son?"

I sigh heavily and pull out the chair next to him. "Her mom overdosed."

There's a pause between us, and I wish I had more to tell him about the situation, but I only know what Helga has told me before.

"Helga told me a while ago that Mariam has become a shut-in. That she would never leave her bedroom. She wouldn't talk to anyone. She thought that she had become addicted to pain pills in the past few months. She's had an alcohol problem since we were kids, but in the past few years, she just started drinking it straight. I got there just as they were wheeling her body out of the house. She just cried herself to sleep a few minutes ago."

I lean forward against my hands and hang my head down.

"I don't know what to do, Dad."

"Well, you were up there for an hour, and you managed to get a seventeen year old girl with some pretty bad family problems, who just lost her mother to sleep. I'd say you did something right. I don't think you give yourself enough credit with her, son."

"I don't know what to say to her, Dad. I mean... as long as we've been together, I've made the most important thing to me making her happy. But when she wakes up, and wants to talk about it... what do I say?"

Dad sighs and leans forward on his forearms. "My advice to you is not to say anything. Just be there as someone to talk to. You're mom and I went through something like this when we first got back home."

"Really?" I've heard a lot of stories from my parents about what they've been through, but I've never heard this one.

"Yeah. Whenever we got back after we had just met, your mother found out that her dad had died while she was away. They weren't exactly close, but he was the only family she had left. I tried everything I could think of to get her to calm down and talk to me. But when she did start talking to me, I made the mistake of trying to talk to her about it. It was... pretty much our first fight."

"But how can I not talk to her about it, Dad? We've talked about everything."

"I'm not telling you not to do something. I'm just saying that... well, son, you haven't had to go through this. You may have grown up without us, but you don't remember when we left. And, after all, we did come back. So what I'm saying is that you don't know what she's going through."

"So... what should I do? Find someone that..." I have an idea. "has been through it and knows what to say."

* * *

><p>Mmmm... that feels nice, and familiar.<p>

I feel myself wake up and feel a familiar touch against my hair. I peel my eyes open and find her sitting on the floor in front of the couch near where I fell asleep. She's still fast asleep, but her hand is moving in a small motion against my head. I smile and pet her hair where it's sitting against the edge of the couch. She must have moved over here sometime during the night. I slept on the couch to give her space, and I didn't know how she'd feel moving in behind her to sleep with her on the bed. But if she's slept in the awkward position all night, she must be very uncomfortable.

Her eyes look much more rested. Unlike when I put her to bed last night, with the red circles around them and flushed cheeks. She moans a bit and begins to stir. It isn't until now that I realize that my hand is still petting her hair. I stop my hand it lift it off, hoping that I didn't just wake her. "Don't stop." She says in a small voice.

"You're awake?"

"Yeah." She says and moves her head so she can look directly at me. "I couldn't sleep much anyway."

"I'm sorry." I say cautiously and move my hand away.

She moves her other hand and entwines our fingers together. "I don't think it's set in yet." She says while she starts to fiddle with my fingers. I've missed this so much. "Her being dead isn't even what I'm sad about. I don't even remember a time when she actually took care of me. I mean, you remember the lunches she used to pack for me. I don't even think there was a time when I was a baby that she took care of me. I mean, bob could never get my name right, but my mom... I don't even think she could remember I was her daughter."

Just be here for her to talk to. Don't say anything.

"They found a brochure for a rehab clinic upstate, on her nightstand. I think she wanted to get better, but... she didn't have the will power." She lets out a long sigh and looks up to me again. "Arnold, I want you to promise me something."

"Anything."

"If I _ever _get like her, I want you to promise me to do anything in your power to bring me back."

Okay, now I have to say something. "Helga, you're not like her."

"But she was just like me when she was growing up."

"Okay, then I need you to make me a promise. If I ever start to turn into Bob, I want you to do anything in _your _power to bring me back."

"Okay, I... I guess I see your point."

There's a few moments of silence between us, and there's something I had planned whenever I was trying to get to sleep. "So, if you're feeling up to it, here's what I could do. I could run you a hot bubble bath, let you relax as long as you want, then I could get my dad to make that egg, sausage, gravy thing I know you like, then we could come back up here and watch movies on my laptop, and I could give you one of my... world famous back rubs."

She looks up at me with one of her looks that says she's questioning me. "World famous?"

"Well... you like 'em, don't you?" She smiles her bright smile, and lays her head back down on the edge of the couch. "So... sound like a plan?"

"I love you, Arnold."

* * *

><p>"No, the blond one is a stuck up, shallow bitch. The brunette is a meticulous know it all with no sense of humor. Her brother is a spineless jellyfish with no self respect and can't stand up for himself. And that blond guitar player is about as clueless as my sister."<p>

"Hey, it was your idea to watch this. I wanted to watch Cosmos with Neil Degrass Tyson."

She laughs and clicks back to the movie browser on my laptop. We're sitting on my bed with my laptop, and have been for an hour now. It's around one o'clock, and I'm just lucky that it's Saturday. She's sitting tucked into my side, and is insisting that I keep my arm around her. I did everything I said I would for her. She took about an hour in the bath, and that gave me time to make a few phone calls. Now, all I have to do is wait.

I hear someone coming up the stairs, and both our eyes go to the door. After a few more steps, Mom opens the door. "Hey kids. Helga, there's someone here looking for you."

"Re- uh... who?"

"She says her name is Dr. Bliss."

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><p><strong>AN: Big hand to anyone who can guess the name of the show I'm talking about in the beginning of the last section of the chapter. (Hint: it was added to netflix recently) **


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: The last chapter was a huge accomplishment for this story! I'm very proud of it. **

**Not only did the last chapter set this story over 200 reviews, but it also set this story over 100 followers! And I'm so glad that you guys thought bringing Bliss in was a good idea. I hope you like this chapter. Keep the awesome reviews coming. **

**(Btw, it was Friends.)**

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><p>"So, your folks said it was okay?"<p>

"_Yeah, we never use the guest room, and it will be good for her." _

"You'd think that she'd want to live where she is now."

_"Living with her boyfriend now would be a mistake, and I think she knows it. Besides, I don't think his parents would allow it anyway." _

"You going over there today?"

_"Tomorrow. She has an important visitor over today." _

"Okay, want me to go with you?"

_"Sure, I'll meet you there around noon?" _

"Sure thing, baby. See you there."

We hang up and I throw my phone back on the couch. She called me about an hour ago and said that Helga called her around five in the morning and said that she was staying at Arnold's and wanted her to know. So, naturally, Pheebs told me. I don't think the news that Helga's mom died was enough to keep my girl from shrieking at the news of our two best friends being back together.

She hasn't told her her plan yet, but I do know that she wants me to tell Arnold her plan. Because knowing Arnold, he'll want to swoop in and dig himself into a situation he'll probably regret.

* * *

><p>"She says her name is Dr. Bliss." Stella says with that same smile that she always has naturally gracing her face.<p>

I feel Arnold stiffen next to me, and sit up a bit. "Um... okay, Mom, thanks. We'll uh..." A minute ago, I was in the perfect place, "be down in a minute." Stella closes the door, and I feel him move beside me. His hand starts to roam up and down my back, just like he did last night when he was putting me back together, and I know he's doing everything he can and that he thinks it isn't enough. But right now, Bliss is downstairs.

I saw her until seventh grade, right up until Arnold broke up with Lila, then started again for a while during freshman year whenever Brainy died. I don't think she knows about me and Arnold. And I know that if she finds out, which she probably already has, she'll want to talk about our hiding our relationship. I know how she works. She'll start the conversation off to make it seem like we're just talking like friends, then the next thing I know, I'm sitting in that damned couch with my feet up.

"You okay?" He asks me.

I look over to him and he has that same deeply concerned look etched on his face, and I can tell that if he was surprised about Bliss being here, he would have asked if I wanted to see her. "Did you call her?" I ask, in what I hope is an unaccusing voice. But right as it leaves my mouth, I know it scared him.

"I'm sorry, babe, it's just that... I-I don't know what you're going through. And even if I did, I don't think I would know what to say anyway. But what I do know is you. And I know that if someone doesn't pry it out of you with a rusty crowbar," He says in that tone that he uses when he throws in one of his jokes to make me smile, which I just now realize I am, "that you'll leave it in there to rot."

"Arnold, I'm a Pataki, that's what we do. The Oscars asked us if they could borrow our rug that we use to sweep things under one year." He laughs brightly, and it's the first real, genuine smile either one of us has smiled all day. He leans back on one arm behind me, and starts rubbing my arm with his other hand and I think we have succeeded in ending the thick tone between us. We're good at that.

"I didn't think it was a very good idea for me to pretend like I knew what you're going through. So, when you were in your bath this morning, I made a few calls and told her what happened. And she said that she would love to sit down and talk with you. And I remember you telling me how she helped you work things out when we were kids, and when I was going out with Lila, so I figured that... you might be willing to let her hear you out now."

"I hope you know that now, thanks to you, I'll probably spend the whole time talking about how in love with you I am right now." He smiles his sly, half lidded grin that says 'I'm so proud of myself for getting under your skin', and I knock my forehead against his. "Thank you, love..." I see his eyes soften, and I reach up and run my knuckles against his cheek, "for everything." I lean forward and kiss him, intending to make it chaste, but find myself melting into the magnetic pull his lips have on mine. After a few long seconds, we separate, and I see his eyes are dancing. He's been waiting to kiss me like that for two months. "And most of all for you."

He reaches up and runs the back of his fingers against my cheek like I did his, and I think he knows that if he responds, we'll end up bantering back and fourth, and forget about the woman downstairs. "I'll go downstairs and get her." He says and starts to climb off the bed.

"Wait, uh... you're bringing her up here?"

"Well, yeah." He says with his hand on the knob. "You really want to talk to you're childhood councilor in front of my parents, grandparents, and the four walls of the nut house?"

I laugh and nod. "You've made your point." He's so funny.

As I listen to his footsteps descend the staircase, I can feel the situation start to envelope me. I start to see images, sounds, and sensations from last night that made my fall apart in the first place. My dad screaming and cursing at the top of his lungs, the EMT's and policeman moving in and out of a house that has never really felt like a home to me. When I called Arnold, Bob had just gotten stuffed into the back of a police car for threatening the cops that first came to respond to him yelling. One of the neighbors probably reported it.

When he got home and went upstairs, Olga was in the living room working, and he started yelling and screaming. I think it was just one of the old fights that they used to have, and put in my head phones, then I started to hear smashing. That's probably when the neighbors called the cops. I should have called him sooner. I'm surprised Olga hasn't stopped by looking for me, but I don't think she knows where I am, and I haven't checked my phone since I called Phoebe early this morning.

I hear a pair of heels on the stairs outside the door, and stand up. She knocks on the door lightly and take a deep breath. "Come in."

She steps in, wearing a pair of dark denim jeans and a purple sweater and heels. She steps into the room and starts looking toward the ceiling. "Wow." I chuckle and feel a little better now that she's actually here.

"You aren't doing that psychology thing where you're profiling someone by looking at their room, are you?" I half jokingly ask her as she starts slowly pacing her way into his room.

"Oh, no." She says and continues toward the couch, where she looks toward the stereo. "But I can tell you that he's a very calm, and collected person." She says and starts toward his old record collection. She ejects the CD tray and looks down. "Autumn Leaves," She says and puts the CD tray back in and looks back over to me that that same old smirk, "old jazz standard. I remember you being into punk rock, Helga."

I shrug, "It's growing on me."

She smiles fully and extends her arms and I happily extend mine and hug her. This is probably the closest thing to a motherly hug I'll ever get. She squeezes me a bit harder and lets go. "How are you, Helga?"

"Holding on." I say honestly. I move over to the couch and slouch down. Man, she's good, she's been here two minutes and she's already got me on the couch. She walks over and sits on the other end with her legs crossed and her arm up on the top.

"So..." I look over and she's smiling and looking around his room. "You and Arnold?"

I smile and look away. "Yeah, it will be two years this summer. We're uh... we're really happy together."

She pauses and I know she's about to start prodding. "But..."

"I thought you were here to talk to me about my mom."

"Alright, do you want to talk about how you're feeling guilty that you never got to know her, or how you're feeling angry that she spent your whole life drinking instead of being your mother?"

"You...uh..." I forgot she can see through through me.

"Helga, I'm here as your friend, but if you want me to be here as your therapist, then I can be." There's a pause and I have two different voices going on in my head. One is telling me to just spill everything and tell her everything that's been going on with me and Arnold and with my parents and with school, and the other one is telling me to keep my trap shut. "So?"

"If it makes you feel better, I... could use the talk."

"Okay." She says and pulls the legs she has crossed on the couch closer to her with her hands. "Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"You and Arnold can't talk?"

"No, we talk all the time."

"Just not about this." She finishes.

"He knows home is a touchy subject."

"And that means you can't talk about it?"

"No, it's..." I sigh and start picking at my finger nails, "It's because he knows that he hasn't had to deal with family problems. Ever since his parents got back, he's had this... perfect family."

"You... ever get jealous?"

What did she just say? "What?! No!"

"Well, you grew up with parents who didn't notice you were there, but it's been seventeen years, and they're still blind. But he grew up without parents, and they came back to be there for him and to love him."

"Hey, you weren't there when I found him at school saying that he felt like his own parents were strangers to him! So _don't _sit there and tell me that I'm jealous of him. Stella and Miles have been better parents to me in the past three years than my own parents have been in the past seventeen!" I'm standing now and I'm angrily pacing the floor.

"Okay." She says and I continue to slowly pace the floor with my arms crossed. "So, Arnold's parents weren't around for him when he was growing up." She says matter-of-factly. "You think that's something you have in common."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because he had Phil and Gertie, his grandparents. He still had someone to talk him through tough times. I had..."

"...You had no one." She finishes. "But now, you have someone."

"Yeah." I say, with my hand going to the locket hiding under my shirt. "I have Arnold."

"Does he ever talk to you about his family problems?"

"What family problems? He doesn't have any. Closest thing to a family problem was when they got panicked because they found out that we sleep together."

"So, he's never really... confided in you about anything?"

Why is she asking these things? "We confide in each other all the time."

"Okay, about what?"

I sigh and sit back down on the couch. "I know he's scared of losing his grandparents. They're... getting up there."

"And he's scared of losing them."

"He's knows that he hasn't had to deal with real loss before. That's why he called you. And he's afraid of what will happen then they go."

"And you've talked to him about this?"

"Yeah."

"What did you tell him to do?"

"What could I tell him? Up until then, I hadn't had to deal with it. What are you getting at?"

"What I'm getting at is you're terrified of this relationship falling apart." Something inside me just got heavy, and I can't find it in me to argue her. "You're afraid that you two won't be able to handle the hard times."

"Hey, if it's one thing I know after these two months of being apart, it's that we can handle _anything!_"

"Two months?" Shit. Don't say anything. "Why these past two months?

"We've been... taking, kind of a break."

"Why is that?"

"Because he lied to me." Shut up!

"About?"

"Some one at school found out about us, and knew about it and was black mailing him into keeping it a secret, but told the whole school about us anyway."

"So... when you said that you'd been together for two years, you meant that you'd been together for two years secretly?" I look down to the ground and want to speak, but can't. "Oh, Helga..." She starts and leans forward.

"We love each other." I argue weakly.

"That's not what I'm doubting, Helga. I've already seen enough of your relationship to know that you two are happy together."

"But..." I decide to start for her.

"You're still terrified of it not working out, even though you desperately want it to."

I sniffle with out realizing that it had gotten this bad and slouch down on the couch next to her. "Yeah, I want it to work. So?"

"Helga, when I first asked you how long you two had been together, you said it will be two years in the summer, which tells me you see you two together in the future, probably even further in the future than a couple more months. Then you said you were happy together, which tells me that you weren't saying that to me, you were saying that to yourself. And when I tried to talk to you about it, you deflected."

Why can't she just stop this?

"You want it to work out for good. And you're afraid that he's just your high school sweetheart and that you'll eventually grew apart, and right now, that terrifies you because feel like you don't have anyone else in your life. Not only that, you're scared that he'll find someone else, and that he'll just leave you one day, like your mother just did. So you kept the relationship a secret so no one would know that you already have him."

She just can't stop this, can she?

"You're scared of him leaving you."

I reach up and wipe a tear away from my eye and acknowledge to myself that I'm past holding any of it in. "We're high school sweethearts. How many of those do you know of that end up together in the end? They either get bored of each other or... they go to different colleges, or they find someone else, they want too different things. And sure, I can take them saying that we don't belong together, and that I don't deserve him, or he's too good for me, or that he's just dating me out of pity, but... I don't think I could handle him leaving me."

I feel her hand on my shoulder and I look over. "I don't think that's what you're afraid of, Helga."

"Then what is it?"

"You're afraid that what they're saying is right."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Next chapter is up. No real excuse for the delay other than lack of inspiration and a lack of reviews. Feel like no one is reading anymore. Could help me get over it by reviewing.**

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><p>I'm downstairs with Mom and Dad, waiting for some kind of signal that it's okay to go back upstairs. I just hope that I really did do the right thing calling Dr. Bliss. Helga always talked about her like she was a friend, slash mother figure in her life. That she helped her figure things out when we were kids. I guess that once we started dating, she either had things worked out, or she just decided to look to me to ask for help, just never got the words out.<p>

She's never been good at openly asking for help. But I guess she knows that she can call me anytime and I'll always be there for her. She wouldn't have called me last night if she didn't.

Mom and Dad are still in the kitchen and Grandma and Grandpa are in the back room. I'm in the living room, sitting anxiously on the couch, my leg bobbing up and down out of nerves. It's around one o'clock and I texted Gerald about what had happened, because I'm sure Phoebe had told him already, Helga mentioned that she called her early this morning. Phoebe texted me while me and Helga were watching movies this morning upstairs, and she got it out of me about me calling Bliss. Gerald said that they would stop by sometime with Phoebe after she had left and hang out with us.

I don't know if we're back together or not, really. We kissed a few times, and cuddled up on my bed watching movies on my laptop like we used to, it was like we had never broken up. But I don't know what's going to happen when we go back to school on Monday. If she's going to want to go back to the way things were, or back to just not speaking to each other all together. I would fight her for just coming out with our relationship, if she hadn't just lost her mother. I'm guessing she's in a vulnerable place right now, and revealing her secret boyfriend to everyone might be way too much for her to handle.

At this point though, I don't even care. I just want her back.

I hear heals coming down the stairs and I shoot up off the couch, thinking that Helga's going to be with her and that she's going to need a shoulder to cry on. I turn the corner and see it's just Dr. Bliss with the same small smile I saw her greet me with. "Um..." She looks over to me as she steps down the last step, "where's, uh- how is she?"

She smiles a little bit wider and puts her hand on my shoulder. "She'll be just fine, Arnold. She's a strong girl."

I feel myself relax and smile. "Thanks for coming by on such short notice, by the way."

"It's no trouble. Listen, Arnold," She starts and takes a small step closer, "I gave her my card and told her that my lines and my door is always open for her, and that if she wants to talk, I'd be more than happy to. But, knowing Helga..."

"She likes to make it on her own or not at all, yeah." I was hoping that she'd understand that she can come to me for anything and I'd only love her more for it, but I love her stubbornness. It makes it more fun to be with her.

"Exactly, that's why I was hoping that, if she really needs help... you'll call me. Losing a parent changes a person, and for someone in Helga's position, I've seen it end too many times in things like drug abuse." I simply stuff my hands in my pockets and nod, picturing what it would be like if it did end that way. "She just... needs someone by her side. Someone that can remind her that she's not alone in the world. She may like to make it on her own steam, but it would be so much better if she had someone reminding her that she can."

I feel myself smile a real smile.

"Well, I have to get going. My husband needs me to pick him up in a half an hour." She says and picks up her bag off the floor next to the door. "And Arnold," She calls me again. I look over to her again just as I'm about to head back upstairs. "Just tell her that... I married him."

"Huh?"

She just smiles and opens the door. "She'll know what it means."

After closing the door, and shaking my head, I jog back upstairs and speed walk over to my staircase. I'm afraid that I'll find her in the corner crying. I'm just going to try and get her back into the place we were at before Dr. Bliss came over. I nervously open the door, and start looking around the room, and find her pacing back and fourth rapidly over by the couch. She doesn't seem to notice that I basically just burst in. I probably should have knocked. "Hey." I say softly.

She looks over to me surprised, and stops in her tracks. She then rushes over to me, grabbing onto the collar of my shirt. Her big blue eyes are staring up at me, and she's breathing fast and nervously. Her hands are clenching and unclenching my collar, and she keeps acting like she's about to say something, but the words just won't come out. "Hey, what is it?" I say and reach up and cup her cheek, and put my other hand on her side.

Her eyes slowly drift shut and she starts leaning into my hand, and her breathing starts to audibly slow down. She nods against my hand and puts her hand over it. "Nothing." I know it's not nothing, but I don't want her to stop being this affectionate. "Bliss just got me a little worked up, is all."

I'm probably going to regret prodding, but I can't just let this go without trying. "You sure?" She opens her eyes to me again. "I know I called her to come talk to you, but that doesn't mean that I don't want you to talk to me."

"I know." She's leaning against my hand, looking into my eyes with those big, blue sapphires and I'm hoping that she'll talk to me. But another part of me just wants to hug her. I feel her other hand move and her arms go around my neck. I follow her actions and let her drift into me and wrap my arms around her.

After a few moments of paradise, I kiss her cheek and usher her back. "You okay?"

She smiles softly and nods. I smile softly too and lean forward and kiss her forehead.

I'm startled by my phone going off in my pocket. I sigh out of frustration that our moment was ruined and dig it out. _Hey bro, we're downstairs. And your mom told us that we had to stay for dinner. _

I laugh because I know Mom probably did order them to stay. We're having that chicken recipe that I know she's proud of coming up with. "What?"

"Oh, Gerald and Phoebe are downstairs." I tell her and wrap my arms back around her, but not pulling her into me.

"Why Gerald?" She asks, but she didn't but any venom on it like she used to. Maybe she's finally getting along with him.

"Well, you called Phoebe this morning, and she called him. He's our friend, I'm sure he wants to make sure you're okay."

She sighs and looks away, "I'm not sure if I'm ready to consider him a friend just yet."

"All I'm asking if that you not kill each other, that's all."

"Yeah, I know. He's the closest thing to a brother you have."

"No, because if you do, we're going to have to go on the lam, and that sounds like a real hassle. When I picture our future, I don't want it to be as Debra and Cosmo Blurnfat of Sinkhole, Kansas."

She laughs and smiles one of her rarely seen unbridled smiles and lets her head fall onto my shoulder. I hug her again and we start making our way downstairs. She follows me down the staircase and I feel her grab onto my hand as I reach the last stair. She smiles over to me and and we go downstairs together. Gerald and Phoebe are waiting at the door, and I'm surprised that Helga doesn't let go of my hand as she goes over to greet Phoebe. Gerald looks over to me and smirks. "You alright bro?" He asks me.

"Yeah, I'm good." I say and give her hand a squeeze. She's talking to Phoebe and doesn't seem to notice, but she squeezes my hand back anyway.

* * *

><p>"So, you sure it's a good idea? Helga living with Phoebe?" Gerald asks me.<p>

"I do. I don't think Helga wants to live at home anymore. From what she's told me, she thinks Olga's going to spin out of control, and Bob is going to be even worse than he already is now that is wife is dead. She's going to go by there tomorrow and get her things. She's hoping that Bob is just going to sit in weekend lock up so she can just get in and get out."

"Big Bob Pataki in lock up." He says in wonderment.

"I wasn't there long enough to tell, but I'm guessing it took a few officers to subdue him."

"She was there, she didn't tell you?"

"I didn't ask, Gerald. I didn't ask what happened, I didn't pressure into talking to me about it, I just wanted to make sure that she was safe." Not that I don't want to know exactly what happened, but I know that she probably doesn't want to tell me the story just yet. She told me what she thinks is going to happen, but as far as reliving it, she hasn't told me yet.

"Hmm."

Gerald and I are hanging out on the roof, letting Phoebe and Helga talk down in my bedroom. After Mom asked for Helga's help while we we're still downstairs, Phoebe told me that she wants Helga to move into her guestroom at her house. She explained to me that it wouldn't be good for her to live at home right now, and that if would hurt our relationship if she were to move into one of our rooms. I don't think my parents would let that happen anyway. And I do think it will be good for her. We all know that Phoebe is on the fast track to being class valedictorian, and they are best friends. I also know how much Helga cares about her grades. She passes, but that's about it. I don't think much more of it, I know she's a genius, she knows she's a genius, I think we're fine leaving it at that.

It's around five thirty, and the sun is starting to set. "Hey bro, can I ask you something?" Gerald asks me.

"Sure, man." I say and look over to him. He has a serious expression on and he's staring aimlessly down at the street.

"How did you know?"

"What do you mean? Know what?"

"That you were in love with Helga? How did you know?"

That is a story I was hoping I would get to tell someone. "I know exactly when I knew. It happened right here actually." I say and spin around and lean against the wall.

"Really?" He asks and does the same.

"We had been dating about eight months, and we came up here one night to watch the sunset and just talk. We had just finished having a 'that's what she said' competition."

"A what?" He asks on a laugh.

I laugh and explain, "We watch reruns of old sitcoms and see who can come up with the best that's what she said joke. We usually end up getting a lot of the same ones, but I usually end up winning." We both laugh and I try to get back on track. "We were looking out on the sunset, and just, out of nowhere, I feel her kiss me on the cheek. I look over to her and she just has this... smirk. Like it's the most normal thing on the planet. We didn't say anything, she just smiled at me and looked back out on the sunset."

"And that's when you knew you were in love with her?"

"Yep. Took me a couple more months to work up the courage to tell her that, but..."

I hear Gerald sigh heavily and see him turn back around and hang his head down. "Phoebe and I have been going together for about six months now. And lately it just seems like... we have... nothing left."

"Nothing left to talk about?" I thought of all people, Gerald wouldn't need help on this. It took me and Helga ten months to reach that point.

"Yeah. And I'm afraid that-"

"She'll get bored and want to see different people?"

"You've been through this?"

"Oh yeah. Big time."

"How'd you fix it?"

"Well, it's different when you've grown up with the person, because then, more than likely, when you start telling a story, she's going to remember what happened, and know the funny part of the whole story."

"Exactly."

"So, we made a promise to each other. We said that we wouldn't spend so much time worrying about trying to tell stories, and spend more time making them."

"And that worked?"

"Trust me, once you focus on creating new memories instead of trying to tell old ones, your topics of conversation will skyrocket." There's a pause between us and I think of something that makes me laugh.

"What?"

I continue chuckling lightly and answer him, "Nothing, it's just... I always pictured you giving me relationship advice. Not the other way around."

* * *

><p>"There's a curfew?" I half whine.<p>

"Yeah, ten o'clock. Strict, I know, but it keeps me out of trouble."

"What about weekends?"

"Pretty lenient, it's eleven o'clock on weekends."

"Oh yeah, a whole extra hour, me and Arnold could conceive a couple sets of twins in that time." I sarcastically say. I'm actually pretty happy about moving in with Pheebs. I know I'll probably hate them in time, but for now I know that the rules and structure will be good for me. And I know it sounds weird, but maybe me and Arnold not being able to spend every spare moment together will be good for us. And it's not like I still can't hang out in here. "So, I'll just stay here again tonight, and have Arnold drive me over there tomorrow. And uh... thanks Pheebs."

She smiles and rubs my back, "I'm sorry about your mother, Helga. I truly am."

I sigh heavily, not really ready to let myself think about it any deeper than I am. "Me too."

"So, I didn't go over the line by giving Arnold Dr. Bliss' number, did I?"

"No, of course not, Phoebe. She actually helped."

"What did you talk about?"

"It's weird, all we talked about was me and Arnold. She even told me about her high school sweet heart."

I hear the guys coming back down the stairs and Phoebe and I get up to let them in. "You guys okay?" Gerald asks.

"Yeah, fine." Phoebe tells him. "I'm sure Dr. Bliss was just trying to put everything into context for you, Helga."

"Oh, hey, that reminds me." Arnold says next to me and puts his hands on my upper arms playfully. "Dr. Bliss told me to tell you something kind of weird."

"What's that?"

"She told me to tell you that she married him." No way. "Any idea what that means?"

I keep my astonishment bottled up for now and smile. "I'll uh... I'll tell you later, love."

I end the conversation with a kiss on his cheek and the feeling that she was trying to tell me something.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Kind of a dark chapter. Kind of. There will be more story telling, and more progression in the plot with the next chapter, as we are nearing the end. **

**I've had the end scene planned out since I came up with this story, and I know how I will get there now. **

**Just to let you guys know, the epilogue for this story won't be like the others I've written for stories I've managed to finish. It will be three, four at the most, chapters long, summing up and fast forwarding through different scenes of all of our favorite relationship, scenes we all want to see written. As some of my more loyal followers know by know, I always have a plan. ;)**

* * *

><p>"Two months..." I say on a pant.<p>

She chuckles and shifts next to me. "Yeah."

"I almost forgot how good we are at this."

"Wasn't our best time." She says and props herself up on her arm next to me, looking down on me.

"Then what do you think was our best time?"

She looks up to the ceiling, thinking, and I already have mine picked out. "I'd have to say our first night of our getaway."

"Really?" That night was amazing, but I was sure we'd think of the same thing. "Why?"

"The bed was bigger, and a hell of a lot softer." I laugh and search for her other hand under the covers. "What was your favorite then, love?"

I feel myself smile at this new pet name she's picked out for me. I wonder if she wants a new one. "I'd have to say the night we first explored third base."

I can almost hear her smile grow. I look over to her again and she's smiling ear to ear. "That was an amazing night."

"Yeah." I say with memories flooding my mind.

"You know, I only went there because I read online that it felt empowering."

"And was it?"

"No! I thought you'd be a bumbling idiot when it was our turn. I should have known better." She says slyly and runs her index finger up and down my shoulder.

"Well, I like to excel at everything I do." We smile slyly at each other and if my body wasn't so heavy right now, I'd lean up and kiss her, but I can't seem to move. "You know, with you living with Phoebe, we might not get to do this as often."

"That's why we have to make the most of it." She says and rubs her leg against mine.

"Speaking of..." I've been afraid to bring this up, because I really don't want to fight with her right now. I haven't been this happy since the last time we were lying in bed after we had just made love. "Now that you're speaking to me again, are we..."

"What?" She asks softly.

"Back together?"

"Arnold..."

"Listen." I stop her because I really don't want to feel rejected either. I sit up and I'm not really thinking before I speak. "We can go back to the way it was before. We can just keep hiding it from everyone. You were right. They don't understand what we have, and I don't think they ever will. I know that now. Helga, I'll do what ever it takes to be with you, okay? Because, to tell you the truth, I've been miserable these last two months, being broken up with you. I just-"

"Whoa, whoa, broken up? Who the hell said we were broken up?"

"... You did." She slaps me in the chest pretty hard and I can tell that she's genuinely angry with me.

"I never broke up with you, you dunce!"

"Helga, we haven't spoken to each other in two months."

"We were just fighting. And we just had hot make up sex. So everything's back to normal, got it? Not speaking to each other in public, making out the supply closet every Tuesday, Thursday, and every other Friday. Oh, and I'm adding Wednesday during sixth period."

I just now realize I'm smiling. She never considered us broken up. Man, I am a dunce. "So, we're good?"

"Of course, love." She says softly and sweetly, and leans over to me and we kiss each other lightly. "On one condition."

"Anything."

"You never lie to me again. Lest you incur the wrath of my converse up your ass." I would laugh if I didn't feel the guilt that I thought I had gotten over these past two months.

"Helga, you have to believe me, I didn't want to lie to you about Matt." I say and go to grab her hand, hoping that she doesn't yank it away.

Surprisingly, she reaches the rest of the way and entwines our fingers together. "Then why did you? You should have known that if you had told me that someone had seen us kissing, I would have been able to handle it."

"You were always so scared of someone finding out about us that I didn't know if you'd still take the risk of being with me if I had told you." Her grip on my hand isn't as tight as it usually it. It's kind of limp. She always plays and fiddles with my fingers when we're holding hands.

"Arnold, I don't need you to protect me." This isn't the conversation I was hoping to have, and not the way I wanted to have it. "Do you have any idea how people treated me whenever our secret first got out?" Gerald told me what she said to Phoebe, but I haven't heard it from her yet. I would stop her and just let her pet my hair and go to bed, but we need to talk this out. I made the mistake of not talking it out with her two months ago, and two months before that when Matt first say us.

I just shake my head after I realize she's waiting for a response.

"The cheerleaders on the front steps looked like they wanted to burn me at the stake. I mean, I've heard them talk about you all the time, but them finding out that I have you and they don't, it makes them ruthless. You have any idea how many times one of them as sat down in front of me at lunch and asked me what you see in me?"

I really wish I could just tell them what it is I see in you, and ask why they don't see the same thing.

"I've had guys come up to me, mock asking me out, making fun of you, saying that I'm sleeping with the biggest band geek in school." That was probably Jason, the quarterback. He's known for hating the band, and being the most outspoken about it. "I always thought it would be bad if our secret got out, but I had no idea it would be like this." She's looking down at her lap and she has this anxious look in her eyes. I really don't want to ask, I really don't, but I have to know. It will drive me absolutely crazy if I don't.

"Helga," I wait for her to look over to me, and when she does, I try to make what I'm asking her sound like I want a serious answer, "do you regret your relationship with me?"

I am answered by a strong, _extremely _painful punch to the shoulder. "Holy _crap!" _Man, those girly fists of hers hurt like crazy. "Okay, stupid question." I say with a strained voice, nursing my wounded shoulder.

"Damn straight, stupid question!"

"I'm sorry, it's just-"

"Just _what!?" _

"You make us out to be more work than we're worth."

Next thing I'm aware of are her hands on my jaw and her lips smashed against mine. She moves her hands up into my already disheveled hair and I honestly don't know what to make of this. She scrunches her hands in my hair and pulls me off of her. When my eyes come back into focus, she has this half annoyed, half blissful look on her face. "There's nothing I wouldn't go through to be able to do that."

I don't know what she did to me, but I want her back... now. "Well, no one's stopping you from doing it again."

The corner of her lips perk up and she pulls me back to her.

* * *

><p>The second round didn't last as long, but it was still great. We had two months to make up for after all. Now, the lights are turned off, the boarding house is quiet, my girlfriend is curled into my side, fast asleep, and her breath lightly fanning down my chest. We did manage to get dressed before we both collapsed for the night. I gave her another one of my button downs shirts to take with her to Phoebe's. I know she thinks they're really comfortable, so I hope it might make her sleep better.<p>

I told her that she can always call me, day or night, if she wants to just talk. I won't mind at all. I'm also hoping that Phoebe helps Helga out with her grades. I know she doesn't care, but I also want her to graduate. I know Helga will be a lot happier living with her though. It's a more stable environment.

Huh, looking back on it. It's a miracle Helga turned out how she did. I've always heard that girls with father's like Bob always had issues, mainly being too loose. I mean, if you look at Helga's upbringing, she should have all sorts of issues, but she doesn't. She may have some confidence issues underneath it all, but other than that, she's really smart, she's bright, she's funny, she's everything I could ever want and then some.

I guess Helga broke the mold.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you don't need any help?" He asks as he pulls to a stop outside my soon to be old house. I don't have much I really want or need. I few worldly possessions, clothes, and some trinkets and mementos of Arnold and I's relationship. Nothing much else. I should be able to fit it all in a suitcase and a box. Seventeen years stuffed into a box.<p>

"Yeah, I'm sure. It won't take long, I promise." I lean over and give him a chaste kiss and hop out of the car. His parents let him drive their car, since the Packard has been acting up a lot recently. After all, it does have almost three hundred thousand miles on it.

I stare up the steps of the house I have tried to call home for the past seventeen years, and harden myself. There's going to be smashed furniture, broken picture frames and such from when Bob went ballistic. I know I'm going to pass by a "family" picture and see my mom's face and I'll come back out with tears in my eyes. I think Arnold is half expecting that anyway.

I drag myself up the steps and test the handle and see it's unlocked, and push inside.

Just as I thought, the table beside the door is tipped over and one of it's legs is broken. The wall paper is torn in a few places from when Bob threw a picture frame across the room. There's a few posts broken on the railing going upstairs. The damage isn't as bad as I remember it being whenever I was here last. I do remember Bob going absolutely ape shit though. The crazy part of my brain remembers seeing tears in his eyes. But I'm certain it was just anger. Looking for an excuse to let it all out, I guess.

Olga was in a chair in the living room sobbing whenever I called Arnold. I don't know what happened to her. I know I shouldn't be thinking it right now, it's not the right time, but I do hope that she's okay.

I let out a sigh and turn to head upstairs.

"What do ya mean the insurance won't cover it?"

I freeze at the deep hoarse, vibrato that I heard coming down the hall. It isn't until I hear someone speaking on the other end of a cell phone that I realize my father is here. I was sure it would still be in lock up for the weekend.

I hear some glass crunch under his shoe and I take a long, deep breath to calm myself. Just get upstairs, and get out. I start back upstairs, trying to make it seem like I'm not here. He didn't notice me before, why should he now?

"But it's supposed to- Hey!" I feel like that was directed toward me. "Yeah, I'll call ya back. Where have you been, little lady?!"

I let out a sigh and turn around. "Haven't been in jail, if that's what you're asking."

"You think this is a joke, do ya? Tell me where you've been!"

Not like he can stop me from leaving. Even if he actually tried, I know enough about self defense. "Fine, you really want to know, Bob?" I go down a few steps and muster up as much courage as I can. "When the cops tazzed you, I called my boyfriend, Arnold, and asked him to pick me up and take me to his place."

"Boyfriend!? Who is this Arnold, and since when do you have a boyfriend? You're a little girl!" He grips down on the banister and makes it creak.

"I'm seventeen, Dad."

"You're not seeing this Arnold, again. That's final."

Now he's done it. I'm so far beyond pissed. "Oh, so all of the sudden, you decide to be a father? What was it, huh? Mom dying finally made you realize that you're precious little _Olga _wasn't the only daughter you had?! Well, hate to burst your bubble, but it's too late to start playing daddy dearest now! You've alienated me out of this little cult you call a family once and for all. I'm leaving." I turn and start jumping up the stairs again, until I hear him start yelling at me again.

"I am your father and you will listen to me, little lady! I've worked all my life to give you this home and you will live in it and obey my rules!"

"Home?" I cannot believe he's my father. "_HOME?!" _

"Don't you raise your voice to me!"

"You want to know the truth, _Bob!?_ The only reason I'm not out on the streets right now is because of Arnold!"

"Again with that boy." He throws off and saunters off as if he's done with me.

"With you as a father, I should be sleeping with every single guy in school. I should be Hillwood High's mattress for god's sake! But you know why I'm not? You know why I am who I am today? Why I'm not completely crazy, why I'm not a junkie, sleeping beside a dumpster downtown, just waiting for the next John to come along, wanting a blowjob so I can get my next hit? It's because of that boy. I wanted to be a better person for _him! _He made me want to be better, to be someone that could be worthy of some genuine love and affection. I should have had my first time with some creep in the back of his truck at the age of fourteen. But I had it with him last summer."

"That orphan boy touched you?!"

"Yep! And I touched him right back! In fact, I touched him last night. And you want to know why? Because we're in love with each other. We fell asleep wrapped in each others arms, I woke up to him petting my hair, his parents made me breakfast, his mother gave me a hug on the way out the door and said that I am always welcome. In _one day_, him and his family made that old boarding house more of a home to me than you have this place in seventeen years!"

I turn and jump all the way up the stairs and turn towards the room I used to escape to, and as I get to the door, I can hear him follow me up the stairs. "You saying I didn't do my job by you?"

"Oh, you did your job alright. In fact, that's all you ever did, was your job. Nothing else. I mean, for god sake, it took your own wife dying for you to show someone that you actually still knew they existed!"

The next thing I'm aware of is the feeling of a sharp pain being whipped across my jaw. I know what just happened, and I'm not even angry any more. I'm just done. I reach up and touch my cheek and look back up at him. His hard stare is boring into me, and after I meet his eyes, one second later, his eyes go to his hand that's still raised in the air after it had just slapped me. "You'd better enjoy that." I say lowly. "Because that's the last time you will ever touch me again."

I turn around and go into my closet, stuffing as many clothes into my backpack as I can, then going into the back and grabbing the box of photos of Arnold and I and another box of other mementos collected through the years and turn to head back out. I keep my eyes focused straight forward and avoid looking at him. I can tell in the edges of my vision as I pass him that he's still in the same place as he was before.

I'm out the door and back in Stella and Miles' car two seconds later, the box of photos of us sitting in my lap, and just like I knew there would be, I now realize that there's tears streaming down my face.


	24. Chapter 24

He lets out a long, concerned laced sigh and gently places the ice bag he asked Phoebe for in a dish towel and touches it against my jaw. He smiles softly when I smile at him thankfully. When he asked me if I was alright when I got back in the car, and I didn't answer him, he knew something was off, something that he didn't expect to happen, he could tell had happened. He's always good at picking up those kinds of signs.

I didn't tell him out right what had happened, I just said that I was fine. But when he asked if I was sure, like he always does when he knows I'm lying, I turned to him to throw out a quip that would get him to just start the car back up and drive away, but when his hand went to my cheek, and I flinched away, he didn't say another word. He just pulled away and drove me to Phoebe's house, rang the door bell, and when she answered the door, he smiled and asked her for an ice pack.

Phoebe took the boxes I had in my hands and went upstairs a few minutes ago, probably just to give me and Arnold a few minutes alone because she thinks that we need to talk things out. I really don't want to get into it right now, mainly because I know that if I do, I won't stop.

I feel his thumb touch just under my eye and softly swipe, wiping away a tear that must have been stuck there. I thought I had stopped them once I realized that they were falling. "You're gonna be fine." He says in a soft voice as he lets me take the ice pack in my own hand.

I just nod and look down. I know he's right, and I believe him, it just doesn't feel like it right now.

We're sitting in Phoebe's kitchen and he has his chair pulled up to mine so our knees have to move to the side so they aren't cramming into each other. This place doesn't feel like home, not like my house, and especially not the boarding house. The Shortman's, and now even the boarders consider me and treat me like a part of their family. I just hope that Kyo and Reba treat me like I'm not a burden. I don't mind them not treating me like they do Phoebe, it would be kind of creepy if they did. I just want to feel like I have a place here.

"Are sure you're going to be alright living here?" He asks and puts his hands on my thighs, probably seeing that my hands are otherwise occupied. I look up and he has a deeper look of concern etched on his face. It's like he can read my thoughts, I swear. "I can always talk to my parents, we have more than enough room in the boarding house."

"No, it's fine, love." I say and put my free hand on top of one of his. "Living here is for the best." I hear him let out a sigh through his nose, and I know what his logical brain is thinking, but I don't want him to feel rejected for me not wanting to live there, because a part of me would love it. "You know that us living in the same house wouldn't work out right now. I mean, we're having a hard time keeping our relationship under wraps now. Imagine how hard it would be if people found out I was _living _with you."

He lets out a chuckle and nods. "True."

"And I don't want to let Phoebe down. I could tell she was real excited when she told me that they had a free guest room available."

I hear Phoebe's footsteps coming into the kitchen, and feel Arnold's hands shoot off my legs like they were burning coals. Phoebe knows about me and Arnold, and even confided in me about it when she asked about her and Gerald. He must be going on instinct. "I put your stuff in your room for you, Helga. Are you sure that that's all of your clothes, though?"

I put the ice pack down on the table and sit back. "All I could stuff into an old backpack. I was in kind of a rush to get out of there and away from Bob." Arnold touches my leg briefly and get out of his chair and grabs the ice pack off the table, moving across the kitchen to put it away.

"Well, from what I saw, you only had two pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts. You didn't even have any toiletries."

"Well, excuse me for not being fully prepared when I ran away from home."

I feel Arnold touch my shoulder with his palm and hear him interject himself, probably wanting to stop me from thinking that Phoebe is accusing me of not being more prepared. "Hey, why don't you uh..." I look up to him and see him smiling nervously over to Phoebe, "talk to your parents. See if you can take her out shopping for a few things this afternoon.

Phoebe lets out a small chuckle and moves further into the kitchen, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "Actually, that's what I was going to suggest. They're at the store right now anyway, so I'll just ask them to pick up a few things and then once they get back, we can go to the mall and get some more clothes."

She pulls the chair that Arnold was sitting in a few feel away from me and sits down, her tiny fingers moving across the touch screen of her phone. "Well, I think I'm going to go see what I managed to pick up on my way out. Take inventory."

I put my hand on Arnold's shoulder before exiting the room and head upstairs.

* * *

><p>She gives me a small smile and touches my shoulder on her way out. I would follow her up because I want to talk to her about what happened with her father, but I need to talk to Phoebe first. Once I know Helga's out of ear shot, I rush over and pull up the chair that she was sitting in and lean forward, catching Phoebe's attention. "Listen, Phoebe, I'm trying my best to keep Helga calm and collected, while trying to keep our relationship intact in the process, so I need a favor from you."<p>

"She's my friend too, Arnold." She says plainly, not taking her eyes off her phone.

"I know, I know, but you can't stop me from worrying about her. I'm trying to make sure I'm always there for her, but I don't know if she's actually take me up on my offer when I said that she can call me any time, day or night if she wants to talk. You know how she is, Phoebe."

"Arnold," She says bluntly and looks up to me with a contempt stare, "despite what you might think, there are other people out there who want the best for her too. It's not just you."

"I never said it-"

"And asserting the accusation that I don't know how to talk to my best friend is an accusation I do not take lightly. You may have been the one who consoled her when she lost her parents, but _I_ was the one that consoled her when she lost you. So don't tell me that I need to send up a spotlight in the shape of a football every time she needs to talk about something."

I look at her with an arched brow, and I'm kind of speechless. Not because of Phoebe going off on me, just from what she said.

"What?"

"Nothing, it's just... Well, Helga kind of has exclusive rights to on jokes about my head shape. It was one of her rules when we started dating." She laughs lightly a few times, and I'm wondering in the back of my mind if she knows that I'm not kidding. "I'm sorry, Phoebe. I didn't mean to imply anything. I'm just trying to be there for my girlfriend."

"Quantum entanglement, Arnold."

"What?"

"Quantum entanglement... or spooky action at a distance." She repeats. I just stare at her and wait for her to explain. "It's the theory that two particles that are quantum entangled can communicate and interact with each other instantaneously, even across millions and billions of light years. When one particle starts spinning on direction, the partner particle will mirror that action."

I smile and sigh, "Gerald did say you were studying to be a physicist."

"Theoretical physicist, String Theory actually. But don't worry Arnold. Helga will be just fine."

* * *

><p>It's pretty late, and Phoebe and I are just heading back home after picking me up some more clothes at the mall. Mainly socks and underwear, and a few more things for school. Reba was more than happy to lend her her credit card and told us to 'go all out'. But I didn't want to spend too much. It was nice to just walk around and talk about nothing with Phoebe though. We haven't done that in a while. It really helped to take my mind off of everything.<p>

"Hey Helga, are you hungry? We could stop at this diner up here."

"I suppose I could eat."

Phoebe pulls her parents car to a stop right in front of the door to the diner. It's one that opened up a few weeks ago, so it shouldn't be that packed. That nightclub is right down the street, and it being Sunday night, it shouldn't be too packed. Phoebe and I walk inside and see a sign that tells us that seating is up to us. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom. Can you just order me an iced tea?"

"Ordering." I quip and turn to walk to a booth near the back.

I sit down in a small booth and wait for someone to walk up. There aren't that many people in here, just an order couple in the back, eating with blank expressions on their faces, and some women sitting at the front counter with her head down. "Hi, welcome to the Coleen's, may I... Helga?"

I know that cutesy little voice. I look up and sure enough, with those same auburn, braided pigtails, and a get up that doesn't look that much different from her normal one, "Lila? You work here?"

"Yeah, I just started this week. I'm trying to save enough to go to prom."

"Prom, huh?" I say with a half hearted interest. Prom never really appealed to me.

"Sid asked me last month, and I said yes."

"You got a job for big nose?"

"Well, I did it for me also. It's nice to have a little money of my own." I smile an obviously fake smile and nod off, waiting for her to just take the order. "Oh, Helga, um..." I look up to see her look towards the back, and then sit down across from me. "I heard about your mom."

"Oh great, like my life wasn't on display enough already." I say and cross my arms. How did she hear about it anyway?

"I just wanted to say that, it gets better... over time."

"How would you..." Oh... that's right. Arnold did mention that her mother had died when she was a kid. "Oh yeah." Just because she lost her mother doesn't mean that she knows what I'm going through though. I recross my arms tighter around my chest and harden myself back up.

"I know it probably doesn't mean much, and I know that we aren't exactly what you would call friends, but... if you want to talk, you know where to find me, Helga." She says and stands back up. "Anyway, what can I get you?"

I order myself a soda and Phoebe's iced tea and watch her run off to get them. What does she know anyway? Her mother died of cancer when she was a kid. And I'm sure that her mother actually took care of her and was motherly before that. She probably wasn't a drunk that couldn't get out of bed half the time.

I let out a long frustrated sigh. I wonder how many people already know about Mariam. Phoebe returns just as Lila returns with our drinks. She orders a sandwich and I order a cheeseburger after her and Lila talk for a few minutes. Lila laughs and says that she'll get it out as soon as she can. She then goes back around to the front counter and grabs the coffee pot from behind her and refills the woman's cup in front of her.

The woman lifts her head off the table sluggishly and moves to pick it up. I feel like I should recognize her, but I can't place her. She picks up the coffee without putting anything in it and lifts it to her lips. After a short sip, she sets it back down and rests her head on one of her hands so she's facing me.

Oh my god.

"Phoebe, I'll be right back." I say quickly and shoot out of my seat. I rush over to her, a mixture of anger, anxiety, and relief jittering around in my system. "Olga?!"

Her baggy, bloodshot eyes pop open, and her body jumps a bit at my voice. "Baby sister?" Her airy, tired voice says. I could have sworn I just heard Mariam just then.

"Where the hell have you been?" She looks like hell. Her hair is uncombed and messy, her make up is smugged and faded, her clothes look wrinkled, and she looks, if I'm not mistaken... like she's nursing a hangover.

"I've been uh... out." She says with a sarcastically satisfying smile and closes her eyes again.

"I've been worried sick about her, Olga." I say and sit down on the stool next to her.

"Big sister is just fine, baby sister." She slurs and flops her hand onto my shoulder before she lets it fall limply back onto the counter.

I look over to Lila, whom I know is standing within ear shot. "How long has she been here?"

"She came in around ten this morning and has been drinking coffee ever since." She looks about as shocked as I am. She probably didn't know it was Olga. I hardly recognize her in the state she's in.

"Olga, what the hell happened to you?"

"Oh, you know... went out for a drink, met a guy, had some fun." She says with a coy, drunken smile on her face.

I think I'm going to be sick. "Olga, what happened to you? This isn't you." I say and pick at the hem of the shirt she's wearing over some skimpy ass skirt.

Her expression goes from drunken bliss to sorrow in a flash. "What happened to me... that's a good question." She says with tears in her voice. She sniffles and leans her forehead against her hands. "I'm thirty years old and what have I done. I'm single, owe two hundred thousand dollars in student loans with nothing to show for it. I have... nothing, no one."

"Olga, please. You've been everything most people dream of. I mean, hell, you spent a year abroad in Paris."

"Oh Helga, you don't want to go there. It smells." She says in a tone that sounds like I should be the one saying it. "The air smells, the food smells, the people smell, everything in France is just... smelly. Why do you think the french invented perfume?"

I hear Lila giggle a few feet away. "What about college? I thought you had scholarships."

"Nope... I was too 'privileged'." She says in air quotes. "Apparently, all of the foundations that offer full ride scholarships get frowned upon if they offer scholarships to anyone who doesn't have a sob story. And someone whose father owns his own company didn't have anyone reaching for a tissue box. I took out student loans to keep Dad from finding out. Had someone to pretend to be my father just to sign the papers."

"Olga-"

"You want to know the truth, Helga?" She says on a sigh. She lets her hands fall back to the counter and opens up her tired, bloodshot eyes and looks over ot me. "I wish I was more like you."

"Wha... you... why?" She wishes she was more like me? Dad always wanted me to be more like her.

"Because you're everything I'm not." She says on another tired sigh and looks back down to the counter. "And right about now, I really don't want to be me."

Olga and I may have had our differences over the years, but family is family. I can't let her just walk back out onto the streets. She's my sister, and pretty much the only family I have left. "Here." I reach over and pull a napkin out of the dispenser and a pen I carry around and start writing down two numbers. "Call the first number and you'll have a place to stay for the night. Call the second number, drop my name, and you'll have someone to talk to that is licensed to deal with kind of shit."

I slide the napkin over to her and watch her read over the names that I wrote down next to the numbers. "You went to talk to someone?"

"I didn't get to be who I am on my own, Olga."

She looks back over to me and has real tears in her eyes this time. She spins around in her stool and reaches out her arms. I sigh loudly, not at all wanting to, after all we're in public, but a part of me is just glad that I'm helping her. So, indulging her, I push off my stool. "Alright, but make it quick."

She hugs me and I just sort of stand there awkwardly. After she sits back down, I turn to Lila. "Can we get our orders to go?"

Lila smiles and starts grabbing some boxed for Phoebe and I. "Sure, Helga."

I turn back towards Phoebe, who is just standing up. "We can just eat back home." Once she is a bit closer and I lean down close enough so just me and her will hear. "I'll call Arnold and tell him to set her up in a room for the night."

"You're a good sister, Helga. I'll wait in the car."

"Here you are, Helga." Lila says and hands me two boxes and I give her the last twenty I have and tell her to keep the change. I turn to leave when I hear Lila stop me again. "Oh, and Helga." I see her quickly walking around the counter to stand in front of me. "I'm happy for you and Arnold."

I feel my entire system freeze. "W-What?"

"Well, Arnold told me that-"

"Oh, he did?! Well, he lied. Football Head and I haven't spoken to each other in two years. Arnold and I aren't a couple, alright? Got it?!" My voice is shaking and faltering. I know I'm panicking, and I know she won't believe me, but I don't know which emotion to focus on right now.

"Um... okay." She says with surprised eyes.

"Good!" I spit and rush outside. I open the door to Phoebe's car and sit down, slamming the door. "She knows."

"Who knows what, Helga?"

"Lila knows about me and Arnold."

"He didn't-"

She stops when I whip my eyes over to her. "He told you that he told her?"

"He told Gerald and Gerald told me. I just assumed that you knew."

I am so far beyond pissed off at him right now. So he just goes off and tells his ex girlfriend about us, willy nilly, and doesn't bother to tell me about it? Who else has he told? Kathy? Oh, I bet that skank would have a field day if she found out that the rumors are true.

"Now, Helga..."

"I am going to kill him."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Just a tid bit of info. My older sister, a french major, did live in France for a year. She did tell me that it smells horrific. Most of her time was spent in her dorm room playing gin rummy with her room mate. Except for a french guy she met, who gave her a chocolate chicken for Easter. **

**Yes... a chocolate chicken... for Easter. **


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: Love the response I'm getting, keep the reviews coming! **

**The last scene is a scene I had in my head when I came up with the idea for this story. Hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>"I can <em>not <em>believe that you told your ex girlfriend about us!" She shouts over the phone.

"Helga, for the third time, I didn't tell her about us. She just started talking about when we were going out and... I don't know, she just guessed." I was going to tell her about Lila knowing, but I didn't want to burden anymore than she already is.

"And you didn't deny it?"

"Of course I did... at first."

"At first?! Why the hell did you stop?"

"Because she told me why she never wanted to be seen with me."

"What are you talking about? You two were constantly holding hands everywhere you went."

"Helga, she said she didn't want you to get hurt."

"Why would I get hurt?" Her voice is shaking, and I know what's happening. She's trying to keep her temper up, she wants to be angry right now. But I think a part of her has pieced together what happened between me and Lila and that she was jut trying to be considerate.

"She told me that you admitted your crush to her in elementary because you wanted her place in the play we did together, when we first kissed."

"Well, little miss perfect wouldn't quit for any other reason!"

"Helga, she figured it out on her own. I couldn't stop her. We were just talking and-"

"Alright, fine. You know what? Since you and _Lila_ have so much fun talking about our relationship, you can have even more fun talking about yours." She isn't saying what I think she's saying.

"What do you mean?" I don't know why, but there's a nervous lump in my throat.

"You're smart enough to figure it out, Arnold."

With that, the line goes dead.

I let the phone fall back to the bed and sit down on the edge. Last time, she was pretty clear that we were just on a break, but this time, I don't know what she's saying. Most of me thinks that she just needs time to cool off and I can only hope that it doesn't take as long as last time. But this thought in the back of my head thinks that she sees this as a betrayal of her trust. Well, at least I know she's in a safe place tonight. And maybe Phoebe can talk to her.

There's a knock on my bedroom door that startles me. I suck in a breath to regain myself stand up. "Yeah?"

The door opens and it's Mom, and she has this tiny puppy in her hands. "Hey there, Hun." She says with her usual chipper tone and sets the dog down. I've never seen this puppy before, but tenants who move out with out notice leave things here all the time. "Found him in one of the rooms that we rented out about a month ago. Just him and a few other things. I didn't want to give him to the pound, seeing how cute he is, so I thought he could stay with you."

Mom knows how much I loved Abner, and I know she felt bad about us having to give him away. "Um..." The puppy, a tiny little Golden Retriever ball of fuzz scampers his way up to me happily. And despite having my love life shattered, he's cheering me up. The puppy puts his front legs up on mine and his tail starts wagging. So I reach down and start scratching his head with both hands. "Thanks, Mom."

"No tags or anything, so I guess he'll need a name."

"I'll think of one."

"Anyway, the real reason I'm up here is because there's someone downstairs. Says she's Helga's older sister." What? Why would Olga be here. "I've never heard of Helga having an older sister."

"Uh, yeah, she has an older sister who's about twelve years older. She was subbing at school, but if she needs a place to stay, you can go ahead and give her a room. I'll talk to her in the morning, and uh... call Helga." I say somberly, trying to hide the fact that she probably wouldn't answer if I did call.

"Something wrong, Hun?"

The puppy is on my lap with his head down at this point and I'm still petting him. "No, Mom. Everything's fine. I just need some time alone."

She pauses for a moment, and I know she knows I'm lying, it must be a mom thing, but she nods and turns out of the room. "Okay, Hun. Good night."

I sigh and look back down at the small dog in my lap. "You gonna make me hide the fact that you're sleeping with me too?"

The dog whimpers happily and reaches up and licks my face and I laugh.

"What do you think of Nelius?" He perks up his ears and looks up at me. "You know, like Cornelius, but just Nelius." He just keeps looking at me with that puppy dog face with his ears perks up. "Nelius it is."

I wonder if Helga likes dogs.

* * *

><p>I can <em>not <em>believe he told her about us!

I swear, I was pissed off at him last time when he didn't tell me that somebody saw us kiss, but this time I'm furious! He openly told someone about us! And it wasn't just some nobody who could go retell it and no body would believe them. It was _Lila! _And who does she think she is, anyway! Talking about when they went out with my boyfriend. It was four years ago, get over it.

And she thinks she was sparing my feelings by breaking up with him or something? And so what if she was? So what if they never kissed in public, or hugged, or laughed or acted all couplely around anyone? It's not like they were going to make it anyway.

I open the front door and stop to stop myself from stomping up the stairs up to my room. It's my first night here, I don't want to send a bad message on my first night. I was fuming when I took the call right as Phoebe pulled to a stop outside and she went inside. And it wasn't a very long call. Just five or so minutes of listening to his half assed excuses for treating my trust like an old dishrag.

I get to the top of the stairs and see that the door to where my room is is open and the light is already on. Phoebe probably took my bags upstairs for me.

I walk inside and see her on the bed with a box open. I know exactly which box it is. It's the box of photos that I've collected of Arnold and I over the years. Most are of us just playing around in his room, or just lying in bed. Some are from our freshman year, like the one I snapped of him trying to do that strong man thing at the fair, and of him failing epically. I know I shouldn't look at any of them, because there are memories attached to every single one of them, any of which pop into the magic eight ball that is my brain, will make me loose my nerve of being mad at him.

Phoebe sets the stack of photos she's looking through down on the bed and grabs another hand full out of the box. I should be mad at her for rifling through my personal effects, but I'm not. I've hidden it from her for two years now, I guess she deserves to know what it looked like. "A-_hem._"

She looks up briefly, then her eyes snap back to the photo, and then flips over another one. "Helga, how many pictures have you two taken?"

"I don't know." I say and sit down on the other side of the box of photos, fighting back the urge to pick one out and tell her the story of where we were. "It was something to do when all we did was spend stolen moments in his bed room, and in old movies that nobody goes to. She stops at a picture and sets the rest of them down, and I see a smile appear on her face. "What?"

Her smile just gets brighter. "Talk about deja vu."

"What?"

She looks up to me and hands me the picture. Oh... I remember this. "This is when we drove up to the coast last summer. Had to spend forty bucks just to climb three flights of stairs of an old light house." It was cloudy that day, and pretty cool for it being mid June. He had one of his teal t-shirts on and I had on this old pink t-shirt and decided to wear my hair down. He has his arm around my shoulders and I'm hugging his torso while he leans his head down on mine and he takes the picture. That was a pretty good day.

"Helga, there has to be hundreds of pictures here. And..." She stops and picks up one of the pictures she's already been through, "I haven't seen a single one where you aren't smiling from ear to ear. I mean, I've never seen you this happy."

I want to argue, try to say something that would make me think that I could be that happy again with out him being involved, and I know that it's probably psychologically wrong of me to think this, but I don't know if I can be that happy again if he's not with me.

"Helga, I've seen a lot of pictures from a lot of couples at school online, and _none _of them have a sparkle in their eye this bright."

"Phoebe, please... I really don't want to talk about this right now. I'm tired, and need to see how many pieces of my love life are left to try and glue back together."

She sighs and starts gathering up the pictures she's scattered all over the bed. "Okay. I'll let you go bed. Walk to school tomorrow?"

I nod with a fake smile and she closes the door behind her. I put the lid back on the box and set it down on the floor next to the bags from the mall. I know I should probably think this whole thing over, and hear him out, then have another little 'chat' with Lila, and then we can go back to the way things were like he wanted to, but I'm too tired, and have too many other things on my mind to trust myself to come to a conclusion I can be happy with.

So I just plug my phone in and start to play the playlist that I made to help my sleep.

* * *

><p>We had another sub in Chemistry today. I guess Olga called the school and said she couldn't teach anymore.<p>

My last class of the day is English and my English teacher is actually pretty cool. He's real laid back. "Hey Helga!" Oh great, I know that voice.

"What do you want, Slug Nose?" I say, not bothering to give him my full attention by stopping on my way to Phoebe's locker.

"Do you remember what pages Mr. V told us to read? I was texting." Sid is still pretty short. He's only about five six, and dresses pretty much the same as he did in elementary. On occasion, he wears shirts from bands that are total crap, and today is one of those days.

"Why, had another crappy Ramones song stuck in your head?"

"You don't like The Ramones?" He seems shocked.

"Why is it a requirement to like The Ramones if you listen to punk rock? They suck!"

"They brought punk rock to America, though!"

"America _started _punk rock. We had bands playing punk rock back in the 1975."

We argue for another few minutes before he says he has to run off to meet Lila. God, he listens to such crappy bands. I had to school him on every single one of them. He didn't even know who Agnostic Front was. "So, you finally find someone worthy?" Oh god, no.

I know that shrill, nails on a chalkboard voice. And for some reason, I feel my chest start to tighten. I turn around and see Kathy and two other girls behind her with a devilish grin on their overly lip glossed mouths. "Huh?"

"Oh, her and Sid definitely make a cute couple." One of them says.

"Perfect match. Tall and ugly and short and greasy." Another one says.

"Back off, Air Heads. I'm busy." I say indifferently and try to walk away, but the girl beside Kathy steps in front of me and stops me. "I don't want to be a dick to the janitor and leave him a mess to clean up, so for his sake, I suggest you move." I say over clenched teeth.

"Oh, please." Kathy says snidely. "No ones afraid of you."

"No one buys the whole tough girl act."

"I don't know why you keep trying to scare people."

"I don't see what Arnold could possibly see in you." My breath catches and I now realize they've backed me up against the lockers.

"I-I hate that football head."

"Oh, Matt told me what he saw." Kathy says. "So, tell me, how'd you get the coolest guy in school in bed?"

"Why, your legs not open wider than the Grand Canyon already?" A familiar voice says next to me.

I look over and leaning on a locker a few feet away from me, his arms crossed, his leg casually tossed over the other and a smile and his face, is Gerald. "Back off, Gerald. We're busy."

"Yeah, we're busy."

"Hey, after thought," He says to the girl who parroted, "instead of being one of those nasty fish that suck the gunk off the belly of a whale, try getting a brain of your own. It really comes in handy. You'll be amazed."

"What's it to you, Gerald? We're just having a little chat." Kathy says and crosses her arms toward him.

But Gerald just keeps smiling. "What I see is Bitchy and the Pussycats ganging up on a friend of mine."

"Who are you calling Bitchy?!" Kathy spits.

"Oh... I'm sorry, did I say your name wrong? Isn't it... Q... T... Kitty?"

Kathy's eyes go very wide and she goes pale.

"The internet is a public place, anyone can see what your doing... Kitty."

Kathy stomps away and her little posse follow a few seconds after. Both our eyes follow them as they quickly turn the hall way. "Girl needs help." Gerald says with a shake of his head, and I laugh.

"Cutie Kitty?" I ask him, not really knowing what he was getting at.

"Don't know about you, but four bucks a minute is a bit steep. Dollar in a half at the most, maybe." He says with the same smile.

"You mean-"

"Yep."

"How'd you-"

"You know Pataki, sometimes it pays to be nice. I got friends."

"Tried nice once, it left a bad taste in my mouth." He just keeps that same, calm, self assured smile on his face. Well, he _did _just save me from whatever Kathy and her mindless bimbos were going to do to me. "Um..." I clear my throat and cross my arms, "Thanks."

"Don't worry about it." He says with a shrug as he casually tosses his hands in his pockets. "Just tell me one thing." I look up to him and he has this blank look on his face. "How is it that you can _always _get a head shot off me?!"

I laugh and shrug. "You have to lead the target, not follow."


	26. Chapter 26

It's been a few weeks since I moved in with Phoebe, and overall, it's going pretty good. Phoebe's parents are really making me feel welcome. It's so weird though, being part of a family that isn't really my family. I can't remember the last time my family actually sat down at the dinner table and had dinner. It was unsettling at first, listening to Reba and Kyo talk about their days, then asking Phoebe's about her's, then about mine. It was weird, I've never been treated like this. But I've gotten used to it. Phoebe and I walk to school together every morning, and she's helping with a few subjects I've been having trouble in, like all of them.

It's not that I don't get it, it's just that it's all too easy. It's that I'm smart enough to realize that none of this bull that their trying to cram into our brains is actually going to help me in real life. But Phoebe actually got me thinking about my future, and asked me what I see myself as, and when I didn't have a real and solid answer, making me realize that I had no real concrete goals for my life, non-romantic life anyway, it got me thinking, and a little introspective.

"So Gerald and I are taking Arnold out to a movie tonight." Phoebe says after a block or two of silence.

"Okay." I say after a pause. I haven't spoken to Arnold since I moved in with Phoebe. And all Phoebe ever does is parrot this little voice in the back of my head. But he's been acting like a complete jerk lately. He started hanging out with Lila again. He's probably doing it just to spite me.

"I wasn't asking you to come with us, Helga. I was just letting you know."

"I wouldn't come if you drugged me." I mutter under my breath and pull my phone out after I feel it start to go off in my pocket. I look at the screen and see that it's a number that I feel like I should know, but I don't. "Hello?"

"Hello, Helga?" A very familiar female voice says.

"Yeah?"

"It's Stella." A lump forms in my throat, my mind going off with a slew of made up reasons why she's calling me on my cell.

"Hi Stella." I say as politely as I can.

"I was wondering if you could stop by on your way home. There's something that Miles and I wanted to discuss with you."

"Um... sure?"

"Wonderful, dear. We'd really appreciate it."

"Yeah, no problem, Stella."

"See you soon, Hun."

I hang up, my mind still coming up with three theories at once as to why she wants to talk to me, and slide my phone back into my pocket. "What was that about?" Phoebe asks.

"No clue."

* * *

><p>"I'll be back in a while." I call through the house, grabbing Nelius' leash off the hook beside the door. He's bouncing off the walls, like he always does when I get home. He knows that I walk him as soon as I get home, and Mom asked me to pick up some dinner from Coleen's since the boarders are all out for the night, it being Friday. "Ready to go, buddy?" I ask Nelius and bend down to find his collar under all of his fuzz. He barks a high chirp and licks my face before I stand back up. He's a real affectionate dog, I have found out. Well behaved overall though.<p>

I start down the street towards Coleen's, not really knowing what everyone wants, but I think I know them well enough to guess. Nelius tugs on the leash the whole way, and after about a ten minute walk, I get to the diner, and tie Nelius up to the bike rake that's out front. "You gonna be here when I'm done?" I ask him. He just whines and wags his tail. "Good."

I head inside and find that it's not that crowded. This place is relatively new, and I found out recently that Lila works here.

I've been talking to Lila a lot lately. She's been talking me through my "break up". I figured I can't break Helga's trust anymore than I already have by talking to Lila about Helga and I. She's been helpful. I've told her a few stories about me and Helga, the first one being the first time we kissed, then about the time we kissed the morning after just before she walked into the kitchen of Rhonda's beach house.

She says that she's happy with Sid, and very excited about prom. I had this idea of putting on some music up on the roof and having Helga dress up and have a private prom for just the two of us on that night. So much for that.

I look around and see Lila with somewhat of an angry scowl on her face, speed walking around behind the counter. She seems upset. "Hey Lila." I say and approach the counter.

"Hi Arnold." She says in a low voice and grabs a few glasses off the counter and walks away.

When she comes back she takes out a rag and starts to angrily wipe off the counter. "Something wrong?"

"Nothing." She hisses and tosses the rag back underneath the counter and pulls out her pad. "What can I get you?" She says on a sigh. I just order four cheeseburgers to go and let her give the order to the cook. When she's facing me again, she lets out a heavy sigh and leans against the counter and hands her head down. "I'm sorry, Arnold. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just had this... stupid fight with Sid."

"Oh..." I say, not really knowing if it's my place to ask her what it was about. "Have you taken your break yet? I have my dog outside and uh... if you want to talk about it..."

She looks up to me and manages to give me a smile and pulls off her apron. We head outside and Lila sits down on the bench beside the bike rack, closest to Nelius and starts to coo and play with him. "So what did you and Sid fight about?"

She lets out another heavy sigh and sits back. "He wants to go to prom with Stinky and Harold in Stinky's truck. But I wanted to go with Eugene and Sheena." She explains to me that Harold was given permission to have one night out with the guys while Patty had a night out with her friends and Harold's parents took care of their baby for the night. But Lila didn't want her prom night to be rough and wild, and they fought about it. Lila really wants to go to prom, and says that she already has her dress and everything, and thinks that this might be it for her and Sid. "I just don't know what I'm going to do, Arnold."

I've had this nagging thought in the back of my mind for a few minutes. It would be out of kindness, and she knows that it wouldn't mean anything. And I know Phoebe and Gerald are going together, we could go with them. "You know Lila, Gerald and Phoebe are going as a couple in his older brother's car. And I don't have any plans for that night, so I uh..." I shake away the heart break I can already see in Helga's eyes, and swallow my lump in my throat, "I could fill in if you want."

"Oh, no Arnold, I couldn't ask you to-"

"No, Lila, it's alright. Grandpa has an old tux he's been trying to get me into for a while anyway." I say with a smile. "But it would just be as friends."

"Of course." She says with a strong nod. "I wouldn't want to hurt Helga's feelings. You... you don't think she's going, do you?"

"She wouldn't go to prom if someone paid her to."

* * *

><p>I let out a nervous breath and knock on the door. I still have no idea why Stella asked me here, but I cant shake the feeling it has something to do with me and Arnold.<p>

After a moment, the door slides open, and in that moment, I can feel my heart stop, just waiting for it to be Arnold that answers. But when I look up, I see Stella's smiling at me. "Please, come in, Helga." She says and ushers me inside.

"Um... thank you." I say and creep inside.

"We made sure Arnold is out, honey, don't worry. We didn't ask you here to talk about him."

A flood of relief washes over my system and I can finally breath right. "Okay."

She shows me into the kitchen, where Miles is sitting in one chair and Stella pulls out the one next to him. "We asked you here to offer you a proposition, Helga." She says and motions for the chair across from them.

"A proposition?" I say nervously and pull out the chair and hesitantly sit down. I have the feeling that I need to bolt, and sitting down will kind of hinder that.

"Well, here's what happened." Miles starts. "About a week ago, we went out to dinner with an old college friend of her's, just to catch up. And eventually, the conversation got to what we had been up to, and after we had told our story, she told us that she works at a publishers office. Long story short, she wants to base a series of novels... on us."

Oh, wow. That's pretty big. "That's amazing, but um... what does this have to do with me?"

They smiles at each other and Stella starts. "Well, we've been talking, and me being a botanist, and Miles being a anthropologist, we don't really have the ability to tell the story the way they want it to be told. And, out of fear of upsetting you," they look at each other nervously and then back at me, "when we brought this to Arnold, he showed us a few things that you've written."

Oh my god. The notebook I left in my drawer upstairs. I had doodle and jotted a couple things down in it when there was nothing to do. Just sappy poems and some love notes that I thought weren't worth much, but I would always say that he loved them. I should be angry at him, well, more angry than I already am, but I just realized what they asked me here for. At least... I think.

"So, what we wanted to ask you is..." Miles starts.

"Sweetie, we want you to ghost write these novels." Stella finishes, and I feel my breath being stolen. Me, having a shot at being an actual writer. I can't even wrap my head around it.

I let out a breath that turns into an exacerbated chuckle and shake my head, "Stella, I-I don't know what to say."

"But there is one condition." Miles says.

"Oh.. um... okay." I say and sit back in my chair, hoping to god that it doesn't have anything to do with Arnold.

"The only thing you have to do... is go to college."

With that, I feel all these new found hope vanish. "Oh..."

"Well, ha..." Miles laughs lightly and waves his hand a bit, "let me be a little more clear. All we want you do to, is just go to college."

"We're not saying you have to be valedictorian, or get a phd, or masters, or even have to graduate. All we're asking you is to just... just _go _to college." Stella says.

I laugh a bit, mainly at this weird idea they have. "Can I ask... why?"

"Well," Stella starts and looks over to Miles again, "over the past months, we've overheard a few things you've said about your future, and what it is you see happening and... well, all we want to see is for you to try."

"Helga, this has absolutely nothing to do with your relationship with our son. This is just about you. We want to see you succeed. There are a lot of people that are told they can do anything they want, when the reality is, they can't. But it isn't too often that someone that actually _can _do anything they want believes they can't do anything."

"You are a very smart young woman, Helga. And you are one of the few people that actually can do anything, and it would be awful for all of your potential to be wasted."

"That's why all we are asking is for you to just attend college. That's it, no strings attached. If you agree, Stella and I will talk to Janette, then we'll sit down with you and talk about what our experiences, and have you write a chapter or two, you'll sit down with Janette and talk it over, and we can go from there."

Wow... just, wow. I honestly don't know what to say. They're giving me the opportunity of a life time. "And... you really think that they will like my writing?"

"If it's half as good as the stuff Arnold showed us, they'll love it." Stella says.

"And all I have to do is just... go to college."

"Yep, that's all." Miles says with a smile.

I nod, a feeling of hopefulness that I haven't felt in a long time surging through me, "I think I can do that."

* * *

><p>"So they're really going to have you ghost write their story of their time in the Amazon, like as a novel?"<p>

"Yeah." I say with an almost unbelieving tone.

"Oh my gosh, Helga, that's amazing!"

"Tell me about it. And all I have to do is go to college."

"So, your going to college then?" Phoebe asks and sits down next to me on her bed. I just nod. "Oh, Helga, I'm so happy for you." She says and hugs me.

I hug her back, "Thanks, Pheebs." We separate and I continue. "I don't know, for the first time, it feels like I have something to really strive for. Like I'm not completely terrified of the future." I look over to Phoebe and she has her head hanging down slightly and a worried look in her eyes. "Something wrong, Pheebs."

"I have something to show you." She stands up and walks across her room to her desk and opens the top drawer and pulls out a small stack of papers. She walks back over slowly and hands the stack of papers to me. I take them and start to open the one on top.

"Harvard?" I ask out loud when I see the letterhead. "Dear Ms. Phoebe Heyerdahl, we are pleased to invite you to attend... oh my god, Phoebe!" I look up at her, expecting to see a smile on her face, but all I see is her leaning against her desk with her arms crossed and her head bowed, staring at the floor. I look back down at the stack of papers in my hand and go to the next letter. There's one in here from almost every ivy league school in the country, Harvard, Stanford, Cornelle, MIT, all saying the same thing. "Phoebe, you got accepted to all of these schools?"

"Not exactly..." She says in a low, hushed voice.

"What do you mean?"

"Helga, I've had enough credits to graduate for two years." She says and looks back up to me.

I can't believe what I'm hearing. What is she still doing in high school?! "Phoebe, what are you still doing in high school then? You should be off at college, changing the world!"

"I'm scared, okay!" She shouts, and I can plainly see tears in her eyes. "I want to graduate with you, with Gerald and Arnold, with all of my friends. I'm not ready for college life, all those expectations they would have of me, and dead lines, and papers, and... it's just too much, Helga! I mean, I'm just starting to be in a really good place romantically with Gerald, and I wouldn't get to go to graduation with you, a-and it's just... it's just all too much, Helga."

Wow. I had no idea Phoebe was holding all of this in. I see Phoebe reach under her glasses and wipe away some tears from her eyes, and I feel like I should say something, but I don't know what to say. "Does Gerald know any of this?"

She sniffles and shakes her head. "No. I know that if I tell him, he'll tell me to go and I'll tell him I don't want to, and he'll feel like I'm staying for him and he'll feel guilty and it will just... ruin everything."

"Well... I mean, why _can't _you graduate with us? Who says you can't graduate with us, with all of your friends?"

"The principal said..."

"If you don't want to skip a grade, or two or three, then they can't make you. No one is rushing you into anything, Pheebs."

"But Helga, all of this pressure, I don't know if I can-"

"Set your own pace, Phoebe. Just... don't overload yourself."

Phoebe smiles a small smile and nods. "Thanks, Helga."

"Eh, college might even be fun."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I was going to add another scene, but I didn't want the chapter to run too long, and felt like it was a good place to end it. I'm going to try to make the next chapter the last one before the final chapter, if not, then it will be the chapter after that. Then I'll start the epilogue. **

**Also, had no idea that you guys would be mad at Helga, honestly did not intend that. But thanks to your reviews, you guys helped me decide how I want Helga to develop. Thanks big time for the support and reviews! **


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: Fast update! There are several scenes that I've had written since I came up with this story, and the end of this chapter is one of them. I've had the last part of this chapter, which is the climax of the whole story, since the beginning. I really hope you like it. **

**The next chapter will be the last, before I start on the epilogue, which if you didn't read before, will be four parts, consisting of all of the scenes that we all wanted to see of our favorite couple just growing old together. I've had a few scenes from there written since the beginning also. **

* * *

><p>"You're <em>what?!" <em>

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

"But how could you do this to each other?"

"Hey, he started it."

"That doesn't mean anything, Helga! You should know how he is. He was just offering to take her as a friend. What you're doing, you're doing to intentionally hurt him!"

"Yeah? So what! He deserves it, treating me like what we had meant nothing!"

I run off down the street as fast as I can. My eyes want to let these tears fall, but I'm not letting them. I'm too angry to let myself cry. And I'm not just angry at him for treating me like this. For the past week, I've been mad at everything and everyone.

I couldn't tell them if someone asked me how it happened. I honestly can't remember how it happened myself. I was blinded by the blood haze that was surging through me. Sid caught up with me after class today and asked me if I knew that Arnold was taking his girly girl to prom, and I snapped at him for implying that I have anything to do or every did have anything to do with that Football headed moron. He said that he had heard the rumors and that we might have just been friends. Then I snapped because I looked over Sid's shoulder and saw Arnold and Lila walking out together.

I don't know why I agreed to be his date for prom. I hate prom. I've always hated the idea of prom. I don't have many fond memories of school dances, like not being asked to any, and having to hear Arnold constantly ask Lila. But Phoebe's right, I am doing this just to hurt him. And right now, I hate myself for it.

There are three voices screaming at each other in my head. One of them is yelling that it's all his fault and that he needs to get down on his hands and knees and beg and plead for my forgiveness to even have the chance at ever being with me again, and that's the voice I'm trying to listen to. But there's another voice that is in the corner, cuddled up asking itself why he would want to be with me anyway, and how he could stand being with me for all this time, and that maybe him and Lila really do belong together.

But then the third voice is the one screaming the loudest. So loud, trying its hardest to drown out the other voices, that I can't lock onto what it's saying. But I can understand the gist of it. I'm a complete dunce.

Every time I try to focus on one voice, and try to make that voice my train of thought, it gets derailed by the image of Arnold and Lila all dressed up, out on the dance floor, swaying together and smiling, like I never even meant anything to him. I suck in a deep breath and slowly let it out and put my hands on my forehead in frustration. I want to scream, really loudly. Just all out, blood curdling scream. But it won't make me feel any better.

Instead, before I fully realize what I'm doing, I find myself reaching under my shirt for my locket. The same locket that he fixed for me. My breath is shaking in my throat, despite trying to steel myself. I've tried to give up wearing this, but I just can't. I don't know why. I hold my breath and pop it open, afraid to look at the picture of us that he put inside.

_"I want you to think of us." _His words ring in my head just like the day he said them to me. It isn't until my ringer reaches up to trace his smile in the picture that's pressed up against my smile that I realize that I'm smiling. He didn't mean it, it meant nothing to him. Are you kidding me? He loves you more than life itself, for christ's sake! But who is he go and blab our business to everybody and betray the trust I put in him?

I suck in a shuttering breath that I tried my hardest not to let shutter, and close the locket and put it back under my shirt.

* * *

><p>"Hey Grandpa, I'm ready for the tux."<p>

"Oh, there ya are, Short Man!" He says and waves me into their bedroom. "I have it all laid out for you."

It's not bad looking actually. A vest with pin strips and a coat with tails. Not a typical, boring tuxedo in the least. "Thanks again, Grandpa." I head back into the bathroom with the tux and start to try it on.

It's prom night and I just got out of the shower. Lila is going to meet me at Gerald's house and we're going to take pictures there. I should be more excited about tonight. Well... no, I shouldn't be. What do I have to be excited about? My girlfriend of almost two years won't even look at me, let alone speak to me. I'm going to prom as a rebound with my ex-girlfriend whom I have no feelings for whatsoever, what her boyfriend is going with my girlfriend out of spite.

What could possibly go right? Tonight is a disaster waiting to happen. I know I'm going to end up spending most of the night at our table brooding. And I know Helga will be acting as wild as possible to try and rub it in my face how good of a time she's having with out me, whether she's actually having a good time or not. Gerald offered to beat Sid up for me, jokingly... I think. But it's not his fault really. I'm angry at him, but I can see where he's coming from. He lost his date to prom and him and Helga have some of the same interests.

And I understand I'm being biased when I say that I can't see them together because I can only picture Helga with me. When Lila heard about it, she offered to back out of going, but she already bought her dress and made all the plans and everything. I hope Helga doesn't think that me and Lila are going anywhere, but I know she does. She probably thinks that I'm chasing after her like Pepe Le Pew, just like the old days.

But Lila couldn't mean any less to me. Sure she's a friend, but ever since Helga helped me off those rose colored glasses I had on, I realized she's just a little... two dimensional for me. And Lila understand that we aren't good together. Gerald had it out for me when he found out I was going to prom with Lila. I told him that I was just being nice, and didn't think it was that big of a deal if we just went as friends. He just said I was a bold guy, dumb... but bold.

I finish trying on the tux, and it fits pretty nicely. I let out a sigh and head back out, and am blinded by a flash. "Oh, you look so handsome, deary!"

"That's pretty sharp, Short Man!"

"It looks nice, Honey."

"Pretty good, Son." They all say one after another.

"Thanks." I say lowly.

I see Dad meet Mom's, Grandma and Grandpa's eyes and they both give a small nod.

"Something on your mind, son?" I look up at him and give him an obvious look, and he nods. "Yeah, I know."

"It's going to be a long night." I mutter and tug at the coat of the tuxedo.

"Who knows, Arnold? You might even have fun."

"How, Dad? I'm going to prom with my ex-girlfriend and my 'current' girlfriend is going with my ex-girlfriend's boyfriend. How could I possibly have fun tonight?"

"Gerald's going to be there, and isn't some of your section from band going? You'll have fun, trust me. Just try not to think about it too much." He says and puts his arm around my shoulders and shakes me.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks Dad."

"Anytime, son. Now come on, your mother is going to kill me if I don't make you take pictures before you leave."

* * *

><p>"You look beautiful, Helga." Phoebe says as she walks into her room. She's already ready and, I'm just putting the finishing touches on my make up before I put my hair up. I'm going to hate tonight, I can already tell. Sid and his baboons that are going with him. Especially Harold, who was given permission to go crazy tonight.<p>

"Thanks, Pheebs." She's in a simple light blue dress with spaghetti straps with her hair put up in a small bun. And I managed to find a pretty cheap dress at the mall. Phoebe was loath to help me pick it out, but we eventually reached an agreement that I'm in charge of my romantic life. It's nothing special, just a light pink gown that doesn't show off anything. My hair is grown out to my shoulders now since I cut it. I decide just to leave it down because I don't want to mess with it.

"I'll drop you off at Sid's on my way to Gerald's. Are you just going to have him take you home then?" Phoebe asks me as she starts putting in her earrings.

"Yeah, I guess." I mutter.

"You want to talk about it?" She asks me in a low voice as she continues to bustle around.

"No, Phoebe."

"Great, come on."

She's been mad at me ever since I agreed to be Sid's date. But she can get in line behind everyone else that's mad at me, including myself. Those three voices have gone quiet, and now all I hear is the repeated question of why the hell am I doing this. Tonight is going to be a disaster. Arnold will probably fall for Lila all over again and I'm stuck with slug nose. I haven't even had the chance to sit down with Stella and Miles to start writing for their novel yet. I've been too busy sifting through the shambles that is my personal life.

I stand up and head downstairs, knowing that this is probably the last time I will ever wear a gown.

* * *

><p>"So, I think our table is over here." Gerald says.<p>

Me, Lila, Gerald and Phoebe all start heading over to the far side of the ball room of the hotel that Hillwood High some how managed to rent out for our prom. The dance floor is in the center and the stage is up front with the DJ off to the side. It's dark and dance music is already playing. I hate this kind of music. It doesn't take any talent, has no feeling. It's like music for robots. I might as well be listening to a toaster play the kazoo.

Lila looks pretty. She's wearing a gown that looks a lot like Phoebe's. Gerald complimented me on my "old school" tuxedo when he first saw it. But he's one to talk with a powder blue tux and a top hat to match. He really wanted that top hat. Maybe tonight won't be so bad. I'll hang out with Gerald, maybe Will if I see him. Just act like it's a regular party. Except I never went to many parties. I always opted to spend the night alone with Helga, and never regretted it.

I haven't seen her, and I've been looking. I've been looking for her, and hoping not to find her. My heart has been pounding in my throat ever since we get inside. Just try not to focus on it too much, don't think about it. Lila's your friend, you might actually have fun tonight. If I'm lucky, I won't even see her, after all, there are a lot of people here.

But when we get to our table, my luck runs dry.

Standing there, clad in a light pink dress that falls all the way to the floor and hugs her subtle hourglass figure, showing every single one of her perfect contours, her golden blonde hair teasing her shoulders in those care free locks that bring out her beautiful facial features whenever she lets them run wild, and with just a touch more make up than what she usually wears, seeming to have a slightly annoyed discussion about the music with Sid, is Helga.

I feel my chest tighten, my heart give a very hard thump, and my legs send a signal to my brain telling me that their about to give out. It's just lucky that she seems to be immersed in her conversation so much that she doesn't notice that she's put me into a hypnotic trance.

"Hey," I hear a snap in front of me and shake my head a few times to make sure my brain is still in my skull and look up to see Gerald holding my by the shoulder. "I know your girl is over there, but your date is over here. Come on, man."

I let out a long breath and just decide to look down and stuff my hands in my pockets. We all sit down and they all start talking. Lila and Phoebe are talking about girl stuff and Gerald is throwing out off handed quips every now and then. I haven't said anything really. I'm too focused on the pattern of the table cloth because if I don't focus on something so pointless, it will go to her. And I feel like a real jerk for asking Lila to prom after her and Sid broke up while I'm still obsessing over Helga.

It really doesn't help that all their playing is this crappy club music that I don't like. The bane of being a musician I guess. I can't even get a good song stuck in my head because the music is too loud.

"Actually, the three stars that make up Orian's belt, even though they seem close together, are actually hundreds of light years apart." I hear Phoebe say.

"Wow, Phoebe. You're really into astronomy." Lila says.

"I've always found it very fascinating."

"What about you, Arnold? What do you think you're going to end up doing?" Gerald asks me. I think he's just trying to get me to join the conversation.

I look up to see all three sets of eyes on me. "Oh, uh... I don't really know. I've always liked music but..."

I see Gerald looking at me, and he leans over and whispers something in Phoebe's ear, and after a moment, she smiles. She leans up to his ear to whisper something back. "Hey Lila, you want to have a secret conversation in front of Phoebe and Gerald?" I ask loudly enough for them to know that I'm annoyed.

"Lighten up, bro, I was just telling my girl that I was going to talk to a few people. You know, do a scan of the room." Gerald gets up and quickly walks off into the crowd, skirting around the big mob of people on the dance floor. At least I don't have to worry about dancing.

* * *

><p>"Oh, come on, you have to listen to Black Flag!" Sid says.<p>

"Before or after it became the Henry Rollins band?" I say indifferently.

"NoFX? They're pretty hardcore."

"I would listen to them if they could decide on a style."

"What about you? You listen to Bad Religion!"

"You hear a Bad Religion song, and you _know _it's a Bad Religion song. I can respect that."

Ugh, I hate arguing with Sid about our taste in music. I'm really starting to wonder why I agreed to come to this damn thing. Stinky and Harold are acting like pigs, and Sid's acting like Sid. Phoebe dropped me off and he called me pretty, but it just wasn't the same. Whenever Arnold would do it, he would lock eyes with me, cradle my jaw with his warm hand and call me beautiful in that soft tinder his voice has. I saw him when he first came in. The tuxedo he has on is just so... him. It shows that he's a goof, but he can pull it off and look more handsome than I've ever seen him. He has his hair slicked back except for a few rebellious strands that refuse to stay down and dangle out in front of his forehead. His skinny, scarecrow like figure is perfectly complimented by the pin strip vest and coat tails.

This music really sucks. I've tried to get a good, hard, fast song in my head, but this crap fest playing through the sound system is too loud. Hmm... Sound System by Operation Ivy. Nope, still too loud. God! Why did I leave my phone in Phoebe's car?!

After a few minutes at our table listening to the guys make fun of each other, the lights dim a little more and it gets quieter. They must be starting the slow songs. And sure enough, they start playing a song that I really didn't expect them to play. Didn't think this dick jockey had any eighties power ballads in his library. And REO Speedwagon no less.

I really hope Sid doesn't think I'm going to dance with him. He's three and a half inches shorter than I am and his cold hands.

* * *

><p>Wow, REO Speedwagon. Didn't think this DJ had any classics.<p>

"Hey Baby, come on, let's dance." Gerald says just as he comes back to our table. Phoebe smiles and shoots out of her seat.

I sigh and tap my finger against the table. I guess I haven't been the best date tonight. I've been angry about my situation with Helga and being here with the wrong person, but that doesn't mean I have to ruin Lila's night. The least I could do is dance with her. "So, uh..."

"Yes, Arnold?" I hear her ask after I don't continue.

"I think I can spare one dance... if you're feeling up to it." I say and force a smile. She smiles back and me and stands up and we head out onto the dance floor. Off to the side away from everybody. My chest tightens at the thought of holding somebody that isn't her and my hands start to tingle, as if they're warning me that I'm about to touch something that might hurt. I just let Lila put one hand on my shoulder, while my other hand softly grasps hers. It doesn't feel right at all.

The lyrics are just starting, and I think maybe if I just focus on the music and not the dancing, it might help me get through this. It seems like a solid plan, until I see Helga practically storm out onto the dance floor tugging Sid along with her. She must have seen me and decided that two can play at the game. I'm not blaming her. She's just hurt.

_'I can't fight this feeling any longer, and yet I'm still afraid to let it flow.' _Hmm.

_'I only wish I had the strength to let it show.' _Tell me about it.

_'Cause I feel so secure when we're together. You give my life direction, you make everything so clear.' _Yep, she really does.

I don't think I'm swaying at this point. I'm just sort of standing there while Lila holds onto me. The chorus starts and I know I'm staring at her. I know it, but I don't care. I just don't care anymore. The second verse starts and while I've been staring at her, her angry scowl has disappeared, and now she just looks like she's thinking. She's just looking at the ground, her hand limply sitting on sits shoulders. She's not really dancing either, just standing there. Just as the second chorus starts, I see her look up. She doesn't look angry, she isn't scowling.

Those beautiful blue eyes that I've been lost in for the past two years are just staring back at me.

I give her a small wave with the hand that isn't holding Lila's and a small smile. And for a second, I expect her to scowl at me and look away. But instead, I see her lips perk up into a smile and see her wave back.

_"It will have to be you that tells everyone that you're in love with her and that no one will ever change that." _

He was right. What am I doing? I'm in love with Helga Pataki. She's the best thing that has ever happened to me. I've been so stupid! I love her. I love Helga Pataki, and I can't fight it anymore.

"Lila." I say urgently.

"What is it, Arnold?" She asks me. It isn't until then that I realize that I'm smiling from ear to ear. I can't fight this any more. I know what I have to do.

"Lila, I'm really sorry, but... there's something I have to do." I say and look up toward the stage.

I look back to Lila and see that she followed where I was looking and that she's smiling. "Go."

I smile and run off.

I'm in love with Helga G. Pataki!

* * *

><p>"He's doing it. He's going."<p>

"You're a genius, Baby."

"I know."

* * *

><p>I run up on stage just as the song is ending and grab the mic before the DJ can stop me, and hit it a few times to make sure that it's on. I hear a thumping sound come through the sound system and let out a shuttering breath. I'm doing this. I'm really doing this. I don't think I've ever felt my heart pound this much.<p>

"Hey everybody!" As I start, I see the stage get lit up. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Arnold Shortman, and I just wanted to say a few things. I know that there have been a lot of rumors going around lately, and I'm up here tonight to set the record straight."

I take one last breath and find Gerald smiling at me from the middle of the dance floor.

"I am in love with Helga Pataki."

There's a small uproar in the audience and one whistle. "We've been dating for about a year and a half now, and I've never been happier. She's amazing. I love everything about her. No, she's not blackmailing me into anything. No, she didn't brainwash me. No, I am not dating her out of pity. And no, she is not pregnant! We just love each other. And if any of you have any problem with that, honestly, I don't give a damn! I love Helga G Pataki and no one can ever and will never talk me out of it!"

I hear a door slam in the back and I know it's her. I have to go get her.

"So, uh, that's all I needed to say, sorry to interrupt." I drop the mic on the stage and jump back down to the dance floor, and start jogging through the halted crowd.

I've never felt this alive!


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: This is the last "official" chapter of the story. I really hope you like it. I've had the general idea for the last scene in my head since the beginning. I knew what I wanted Helga to do, but didn't know what exactly I wanted her to say, until now. I usually figure those kinds of things out as I go along. **

**And yet another fast update! I've had nothing better to do, so I've been writing. And I've been toying with the notion of rewriting All the Difference in the World. For those of you who've read that story, please let me know what you think. I have a few ideas to improve that story.**

* * *

><p>I burst into the bathroom upstairs and turn on the sink with trembling hands. I splash some cold water on my face and hold my hands on it for a long moment before I throw them off with a grunt and brace myself against the sink. I'm panting, I'm panicking and I just can't get the horrifying image of everyone's eyes on me.<p>

What was he thinking?! That idiot is going to pay for this, I swear!

What about him? What are people going to do to him? I can just deny everything, but what about him? He can't just go to school on Monday and say 'just kidding'. I knew going to prom was a mistake.

And just for a split second there, I was ready to forgive him and get things back to normal. But now, I know we don't belong together.

"I can't believe he did that. What was he thinking?" I say aloud, still trying to catch my breath.

"Hey!" A harsh voice says.

I look around the bathroom, then go out into the hall way, but there's no one there. Reba and Kyo are out for the night, so I know it's not them.

"Over here, you dolt!" The voice says again.

I go back into the bathroom but still can't find anybody. "Oh great, I'm freaking out so much I'm hearing things."

"Crimeny! What do I have to do, send up a flare?!" I know that voice.

I look into the mirror and am stricken by the face staring back at me. With blonde pigtails and a pink bow, a pink dress and a deep scowl, and arms on her hips... is me. "I'm hallucinating now. Yeah that's it."

"How long did that take you to figure out, Einstein?" She says.

"You're not real."

"And you're not listening!"

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"_What's that suppose to mean?_" She mocks me. "What do you _think _it means!? I'm the voice in your head that you've been ignoring for the past two years!"

"Since when does a voice in my head interact with me in such a direct and... creepy way?"

"Hey, I can't tell you how your brain works. Are you done trying to analyze this so I can yell at you?"

"He had no right to do that!"

"Oh, ain't that the pot calling the kettle black."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"What makes you think you had the right to tell him what to do with his feelings? What was he suppose to do? You were so busy trying to protect your '_image'," _she says with a mocking tone and air quotes, "that you were willing to sacrifice the one that that should have been most important! Ugh, I swear, calling you an idiot is an insult to all other idiots on the planet!"

"But you saw how they were all looking at me!"

"_SO WHAT!" _She screams. "Crimeny! Who cares! You've been waiting since you first laid eyes on that football head for him to stand up in front of the whole world and declare his love for you, for crying out loud! And now, he finally does it, and in a tux no less, and now you're mad at him?! Geez, there's just no pleasing you is there?!"

"W-well, he still..."

"If you had just listened, and done what the _real _you would do, you would have marched up on that stage and kissed that wide, beautiful smile right off of his face! But _noooooooooo..._" She drags out with that same mocking tone, that I used to use a lot. Man, I was a brat. "What did you do instead! You tucked your tail between your legs and you ran!"

"Okay, fine. Say we were to go public and just stopped hiding, people would find a way to end us."

"Like who, Kathy? If her butt wasn't attached, she would forget she even has one. And what's she going to do, anyway? If you don't know for a fact that you and Arnold can face any obstacle together, head on, then how do you expect to make it, huh? How do you expect to marry him? What, is he going to propose and have your wedding in the janitors closet?"

"No, I-I mean-"

"What were you going to do when you decide to have kids? How were you going to hide that little factoid? Tell people you had a pillow stuffed in your shirt for nine months and suddenly decided to take it out?"

"That's not-"

"What about when they're grown up? You gonna have your kids tell people that the man that helped raise them is just some guy who lives with them and sleeps in the same bed?"

"Would you-"

"What about when you two grow old, huh? You going to explain to people who you spent all of your lives hiding from the world, hiding you he truly is, and you truly are because you were scared of what people thought. Oh yeah, that's a good way to live. Real healthy."

"Who are you to talk about healthy? You're the hallucination of my ten year old self that's ripping me a new one."

"I wouldn't be if you would just grow a spine! Crimeny, the only difference between you and a jellyfish is that a jellyfish is actually dangerous!"

"Ouch..."

"Truth hurts, sweetheart!"

Everything that she... I mean I... everything that my mind is telling me, I know it's right. But it's just made me realize that maybe he's too good for me after all. "Maybe I don't really deserve to be with him after all."

"Hey!" I look back up at the image of my ten year old self and see her still scowling at me with her fists planted on her hips. "You love him, right."

"Of course I love him."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, I love him more than anything else in the world!"

"And?!"

"And he loves me and that should be enough!"

"I can't hear you!"

"We love each other and that should be enough!"

"And?!"

"And if they don't like it, they can _shove it!" _I say and shove my finger at her.

"What can they do?" She asks and turns her ear to me.

"They can shove it! Who needs 'em!?"

"So do you love him?!"

"I love him!"

"Who!?"

"I love Arnold Shortman, and there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it!"

"Hey Helga!"

"What?!"

"Hey Helga..." I feel someone shaking me. "Helga? Are you alright?"

* * *

><p>My eyes flutter open and see Phoebe standing over me with a concerned look on her face. "Phoebe?" I was asleep?<p>

"I was walking by your room and you were muttering in your sleep."

"Phoebe, what happened?" I say and sit up. I look down and see that I'm still in my prom dress.

"I don't know. I came home around ten o'clock last night and you were already in bed."

It was all a dream, but... I could have sworn...

"You uh..." Phoebe starts and sits down next to me on my bed, "You want to talk about what happened last night?"

"Phoebe, I... I've been..."

"What is it, Helga?"

"I've been a complete bitch."

"I wouldn't go that far." She says and looks away.

"No, he's treated me like a queen since the day we started going out, and what have I done? I've chained him up and locked him in the dungeon. Oh my god..."

"Helga?"

"I-I... I have to do something. Something to show him that I love him just as much as he loves me."

What have I been doing all this time? What am I, crazy?! I've been waiting all my life for him to declare his love for me, and what do I do? I bolt out the door! Looking back on it, on all of it now... it all seems so idiotically stupid. I know who I am. Who cares what other people think? As long as he's with me, there's nothing that I can't face and overcome! He's all I'll ever need, and I love him.

I'm in love with Arnold Shortman.

* * *

><p>I sigh a long sigh as I pull the key out of the Packard.<p>

I'm not ashamed of what I did. It had to be done. And I would probably do it again, given the right circumstances. In all the ways of our relationship coming out in the open, I never pictured it happening by my rushing the stage on prom night after listening to an eighties power ballad and dancing with my ex girlfriend. I figured that one day we would just walk into school holding hands or something, or just start chastely kissing each other right before we go to class like normal couples. But never like this.

I ran out of the hotel, but I didn't find her. She must have caught a bus back at the last minute or something. I was going to stop over at Phoebe's this weekend to try and explain myself to her, but she probably wants nothing to do with me now. Well, I got it off my chest. I love Helga and that's that. I'll get her back somehow.

I heard Gerald managed to salvage the night after I brought prom to a screeching halt. He got up on stage and asked if anybody else wanted to declare their love for anybody. He even asked Harold if he wanted to declare his love for ham. He told a few more jokes and got the night going again. I could see him as a stand up comic. He was always a good speaker, and he's known as the funniest guy in our class.

I may not be ashamed of what I did, but I still have to deal with everybody. Then I have to deal with Helga pretending she doesn't even know me.

I grab my stuff off the seat and climb out. I already see a few people looking at me as I cross the parking lot. I'm not really bothered by it. I know who I am, and I know I'm in love with Helga, and I don't care that everybody knows. For some reason, I just feel good about it.

I heard Lila and Sid got back together at prom also. Since they were both left without dates for the rest of the night, they managed to work things out again.

As I head down the hall way and pass people, getting more than a few looks, I just try to hold my head high and not let it bother me. I let out a long sigh and stop at my locker. Maybe winning Helga back will take a bit longer than I thought. I can't imagine how people are looking at her. I'm not bothered about how people are looking at me, but Helga's just a bit more... sensitive about these kinds of things.

Maybe I was wrong to just blurt out everything in front of everybody.

"One side!" I hear someone shout down the hall. That almost sounds like Helga.

"Move it! Out of my way!" She scolds again. I turn around and see her storming down the hall. She's wearing that old pink t-shirt that she wore that time we went up to that old light house, and her favorite pair of old blue jeans, her hair back in a pony tail with a pair of bangs framing her face. I must really have upset her.

I'm scared now. My heart is pounding a little bit, because I look around and see that she's garnered the attention of most everyone in the hall, and I'm afraid that she's going to tell me off in front of everybody. Then I'll have to live with declaring my love for her then having her break up with me officially in front of the same people that I declared my love for her to.

I really wish I hadn't said anything.

* * *

><p>I know what I have to do. I have to show him how much I care for him, how much I really love him. And the only way to do that is to prove to him that I'm not afraid of our relationship anymore.<p>

I see him at his locker. I've ignored all the people giving me passing glances. I don't care anymore. I know who I am. I start walking up, but all these idiots that are just walking in the door keep getting in my way. Can't they see I'm trying to declare my love here? Ugh!

"One side!" I yell and shove my way past the crowd. I know what I have to do now. The old Helga is back. "Move it! Out of my way!" I shout and storm down the hall way. I see him turn around and look at me with shock. God, I love him so much. I hadn't planned it this way, but this is even better. I've drawn a crowd.

I storm up to him and shove him up against his locker, slamming it shut with his back and grab onto that beautiful face. I hope he believes me. With out giving him the option of saying no, I press him back against his locker and press my lips tightly against his, drawing in the first breath that feels like it has life in it. I kiss him for what feels like the best few seconds of my life before I feel his hands on my back, pressing me into him and feel his lips kiss me back with all of the love that I know he has for me.

I'm so in love with him. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold him as close as to me as I can while we kiss more passionately than we ever have before. Moving one hand across his jaw, and the other over his shoulder, while his hands find their rightful place on my hips, we separate and I lean back. I can see a light in his eyes that I don't think I've ever seen before. I've never felt better than I do right now.

* * *

><p>She moves her soft, warm hand down my jaw and we peel our lips apart. That was the most amazing kiss we've ever shared.<p>

She leans back and looks me in the eye with her big blue eyes that have a sparkle in them that make them shine even brighter than they ever have before. She's so beautiful. _'I love you', _she mouths to me.

I'm about to say it back when she spins around toward the crowd of people staring at us. "Alright!" She starts in a strong voice. "Listen up! 'Cause I don't care who hears it! He's mine!" She says and points her arm back toward me, "And I'm his. So all of you can just _back off! _I've been waiting a long time to say this, and you're all going to hear me. I've been in love with Arnold Shortman since I was a little girl, and none of you will ever convince me that we don't belong together. So if you have a problem with that, rest assured knowing that I don't give a damn!"

The crowd starts to break up and she turns around, looking down at the ground. I can't get this smile to go away. She's so amazing.

"So uh..." She starts and reaches for my hands and I give them to her and she wraps her hands around mine. "I owe you an apology." She says and looks up at me. "A lot more than that, actually." She says and looks back down at our hands.

"For what?"

"For everything." She says and keeps head bent down a bit and her eyes down on our hands that are still entwined. "For everything I've put you through because of my... stupid insecurities. I've been so stupid these past two years. I've been so afraid of losing you, and trying to protect what we had, that I lost you while trying to protect what we had."

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Helga."

"Yes I do!" She says and looks up at me. "I've been afraid of what would happen to us. I've been afraid of the future, of what's to come, of us breaking up after high school, or just drifting apart that... I guess I was just afraid to ask you to face the future with me. But there's no one else I'd rather face it with, Arnold." She reaches up and puts her hands on my chest and takes a step closer, her bright, sparkling eyes still looking deeply into mine. "I'm not afraid of us anymore. I love you, Arnold, and I'm so sorry for letting you think that I don't."

I smile and lean forward, capturing her soft lips in a quick, but meaningful kiss. When I lean back, she's smiling as bright as the day when I saw her on that beach and kissed her for the first time. "I love you too, Helga."


	29. Epilogue-Part 1

**A/N: I was going to post this in the last chapter but didn't get the chance. **

**I've always maintained in my story writing that them getting together is only half the story, and I've always spent more time exploring the relationship than I do exploring the two trying to get together. That's why I wrote this story. I wanted a story that was just them together, where they had settled in a place, it wasn't all new and fresh, they knew what they were to each other and they help each other grow as both people and as a couple. I'm very happy to say that it turned out better than I imagined and I'm so happy with the praise its gotten, especially with it being my first crack at first person. **

**Anyway, this is part of of the epilogue. **

**Epilogue: First comes... speeches.**

* * *

><p>"You're not going to win!"<p>

"Oh, yes we are! You'll see!"

"You have nothing on us!"

"We have _everything _on you two!"

"Everybody loves us more! We prettier!"

"And we're the minorities! Class clown and class genius, what you guys got?"

"Duh, we're better!"

Helga and Gerald have been going at it the whole way home. It's been like this for two weeks now, and Phoebe and I are getting sick of it to be quite honest. Helga and Gerald have gotten to be like siblings since last year. Well, siblings who hate each other. Helga and I are competing against Gerald and Phoebe for class couple. The winner gets their picture in the year book. We're the only two couples who got nominated.

Things have been great since Helga and I came out. She's more confidant than ever before. It's brought out the side of her that I always knew was there. I can safely say that we're more in love than we've ever been before. We don't have any classes together this year, but we have the same lunch. Helga spent the summer writing mostly. She sat down with Mom and Dad about a week after prom and they talked things out, about what they went through.

Whenever she met with Janette to talk over the first chapter, Janette said that she loved it. That it's exactly what they were looking for. They didn't want just another romance novel that would sit on the shelves. What they were looking for was a book to rival Harry Potter. Helga didn't want it to go that far, but if anyone can do it, I know she can. I've read every word that she's written, more than once, and she has a gift. It's easy to follow with out being too boring, it's exciting while still making sense, not too out there, complex characters. She's just an amazing writer. Everyone that's read her work says how great it is. So the book is coming along. She's about half way through with the first novel.

And as it turns out, we weren't the only ones hiding relationships. And the one that came into light was more shocking than ours.

Rhonda and Curly came out not two days after we did. Turns out they had been dating since freshman year. No one even suspected a thing. They never even spoke to each other. Curly was always hanging out with the people who volunteer down at the animal shelter, and Rhonda always sat at the popular table. They never even spoke to each other. I still remember when I first saw them together. Rhonda was walking down the hall like any other normal day, Curly was digging through his locker, which was a few down from mine, Rhonda turned him around by the shoulders, said and I quote "Give Momma some sugar!", and kissed him in front of everybody.

We later found out that they got together after Curly had thrown a bucket of fake blood on her after she walked out of the mall in a fur coat. At least I hope it was fake.

But overall, things couldn't be going better.

It's nearing the end of our senior year, and it's prom night. Well, everyone else's prom night. Helga and I decided to skip it this year, and I'm surprising her with a dance of our own up on the roof tonight. I asked Phoebe to steal her prom dress out of her closet for me and bring it over, and Grandpa decided to let me have that tux that I wore last year.

As for our future, I'm going to Hillwood University. I know what field I want to go into, but that's it, and Hillwood U has a decent music program. I'm taking music theory this year, and I was scared at first, until I found out that I'm really good at it. I get it so easily. I even started to play Grandma's piano more often. Helga loves to sit up on the roof with her laptop and listen to me practice as she writes.

After I found out the condition that Mom and Dad gave Helga when they told them that they wanted her to write those novels, that got the conversation going to what would happen if we ended up going to different schools. And that snowballed into everything else. We don't want to be apart, and my parents won't budge on her going to college even though she's right in the middle of the first book. So after talking with the schools guidance councilor, she decided to attend Hillwood U with me.

She's worked hard this year on improving her grades, with Phoebe's help. But she's accepted the fact that she's slacked off the rest of the time before that. And she won't accept any of her dad's money, and there's only so much in scholarships that you can get. We're both going to live in the dorms, and she's assured me that we won't drift apart. I'll make sure of it. We've closer now than we've ever been before.

Gerald pulls to a stop outside of Phoebe's house after ending his argument with Helga, and her and Phoebe hop out. "Okay, I'll be over in a few hours, I have some home work for Algebra." Helga says leans down in the window. "Love you, love." She says and puckers out her lips.

I laugh and kiss her, "Love you too."

* * *

><p>If you had told me a year ago that this is how my life would have turned out, I would have had you committed.<p>

Arnold and I are better than ever, I'm not afraid of what's to come, I'm on my way to spend the night with him, just hanging out on the roof and talking. It's prom night, and I didn't want to go. Before he rushed the stage last year, we both agreed that it wasn't all that fun. Just wasn't us. So we're just going to sit up on his roof while he serenades me. He's getting so good at the piano. He says he aspires to be as good as Randy Newman, his song writing hero, and I can already hear it. I still remember I went up there and heard him all excited about finally figuring out Short People.

I smile at the memory and open the door to the boarding house. I stopped knocking a long time ago. This is a second home to me now. I've spent more than one all nighters working on the book, late nights talking with Stella, about a lot more than just the book. Even if Arnold and I never officially get married and just say boyfriend and girlfriend, she considers me to be her daughter, and I consider her to be my mother at this point.

The boarding house is pretty quiet for a Friday night. Stella and Miles are in the living room watching TV, and I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa are in their bedroom watching TV, they've been having trouble getting out of bed lately. "Hi Hun." Stella says as she sees me enter. "Arnold's upstairs waiting for you."

"Thanks Stell."

I wonder where Nelius is. He usually greets me by trying to tackle me when I walk through the door. He must be upstairs with Arnold. I never really considered myself a dog person, but Nelius is the best dog ever.

I head up and open the door to his bedroom and find it empty. The couch is put up, the TV is off, the bed is even made... wait. I take a few steps closer and find what's sitting on the bed. How'd he get my prom dress? What the hell is that Football Head up to? There's a small piece of paper at the top, and now I'm starting to get all mushy and excited. _'Put this on.' _It says. Such a hopeless romantic, I swear.

* * *

><p>"You are so dead, Football Head!"<p>

"Can't hear you, too busy waiting up here to surprise you!" I call back down and lift the lid to the piano and start playing this slow jazz song I've been working on. I have some lights hung up and some candles lit, the stereo is ready to play whenever she gets up here, I have my tux on.

"Alright, alright, I have this get up on. What..." Her voice falls and I look over, and my beautiful girlfriend is standing having just climbed up with her dress on, and her hair falling down past her shoulders in loose curls like it always does. I love it now that she let it grow back out. I remember having to talk her out of cutting it short again just because I missed playing with it whenever we would lay in bed. She's aw struck and her eyes are following the lights around the roof, the small table I borrowed from one of the rooms with some flowers on it. "Okay, I'm surprised."

I smile and stop playing and pull out the remote from my pocket and hit play, turning on some slow background jazz. "You know," I say and stand up and slowly walk towards her, "I wanted to do this for you last year."

"Oh really?" She says and sashays her way slowly towards me.

"Mmmhmm." I extend my hand out to her and when she takes it, I gently tug her in.

Without another word, we start effortlessly dancing together, I twirl her out a couple times, she gets that bright, completely unreserved smile on her face when I bend over and try to grab a rose with my teeth. Emphasis on try. I forgot they had thorns.

When it's just us holding each other, with her head resting on my shoulder with my head resting on hers, her arms around my neck and mine around her waist, just swaying with each other, listening to the music, it's perfect. "If you had the chance, would you do it differently?" She asks me in a small voice, not lifting her head off my shoulder.

"Do what?"

"Us. The hiding, I mean."

"Not a chance. It was pretty hot while it lasted."

She chuckles lightly and shifts her head against me a bit, "Yeah. But it was way too much drama."

"_Way _too much drama."

"But you really wouldn't do it any differently?" She asks and lifts her head up.

"No. We went through what we went through to get us here. If we didn't go through it, then we might not be here, and right now, I wouldn't give up being here... with you... for the world."

She smiles a soft smile and kisses me, then puts her head back on my shoulder. "It was hot though."

"_So _hot."

* * *

><p>Man, last night was the best.<p>

Nothing happened. We just spent the night with each other, holding each other and enjoying the night. Helga said she's going out shopping with her sister today. Olga only stayed with us that one night. After that she started seeing Dr. Bliss, and now as a nice, normal day job at an office. She and Helga have gotten closer since then. What's weird is, from what I've seen, Olga is the one that looks up to Helga. It's weird.

"Hey, sweetie," Mom says over by the sink.

"Yeah, Mom?" I ask and hand her a plate.

"Can you go wake up your grandparents. Your grandpa has a doctors appointment in an hour."

"Sure thing, Mom."

I have to give a Grandpa his tux back anyway. He says there's a certain way to hang it up and he never bothered to show me how.

I get up to their bedroom door and it's still closed. That's weird, they're usually up by now, it's almost ten o'clock. "Hey Grandpa, you awake?"

I see them both in bed, but their still asleep.

"Grandpa? Grandma?"

No no no no no no no...

"Grandpa?"

* * *

><p>I hit the brakes on the car and am running up the stairs to the boarding house as fast as I can, shooting through the door, my heart pounding in my chest. I run into the kitchen and find Stella and Miles at the table, Miles with his head down in his hands and Stella beside him rubbing his back. "Where is he?"<p>

I head upstairs and slowly open the door to his room. Nelius' head pops up from the covers and he jumps off the bed and runs over to me. "Hey buddy," I kneel down and scratch his ears. "Where's our boy, huh?"

He whines and jumps back on the bed. He must be on the roof. I slowly climb up and find him at the piano. He has the lid up, but he's not playing. I quickly walk over and sit down beside him, leaning down to try and make eye contact. But his head is bent down and he has a sad expression on his face. He's not crying, but he just looks... so sad. I reach up and gently put my hand on his back, running it up and down his spine, hoping to soothe him, just like he did for me that night when my mom died.

"I remember one day," he starts, looking down at the keys, just running his finger up and down one in the middle, "I had this list of how to have a perfect Saturday. And of course it just... all went wrong. At the end of the day, I came up here and was mad about how the day went. Then Grandma comes up on a crane with the piano and starts playing this up beat song. About how you just need to look up, when times get you down..." His voice is starting to shake. It's coming.

He sniffles and both his hands go to the key board and starts playing a slow, upbeat and happy melody. I look back up at him and see a tear hanging from his lashes. "They want me to give the eulogy." I sniffles again and pauses for a break in the song. I can understand them wanting him to give the funeral speech. I hope he knows that he doesn't have to if he doesn't think he can't. "Give me your hand."

I look up at him again and see him looking down at my hand and I give it to him. He puts his on top and moves it to the keys, putting my fingers where they he wants them.

"Just these two keys, just C and G." I presses down on the higher note, then the lower note, and repeats it a few more times before I'm doing it on my own. He then goes back to the song. As the song progresses, watching his slender fingers dance effortlessly across the piano, it feels like he's trying to lose himself in the music. His eyes are closed and his head is moving to the tempo. After a couple minutes, he ends the song and let's his hands fall down to his lap. "I think I know what I want to do." He says and opens his eyes. "A music teacher."

"You'll be great."

When I see his expression start to crack, his lower lip start quivering and his eyes screwing shut, not wanting to break down in front of me, I quickly reach over and wrap my arms around him, pulling him down to me and cradling him to me. In a second, he's clinging onto the back of my shirt and his body is wracking. It's breaking my heart, but he was there for me, and now I have to be here for him, and there's no where else I'd rather be. He lets out a wave of sobs and I softly press my lips to his hair. "It's okay, love, it's okay... I'm here." I start rocking him from side to side and petting his hair. I know he likes that and hope that he finds a little more comfort in the action. "I'm here."

His arms move around me a little further, pulling me in, and his head moves up to my shoulder, and he buries his face in my hair.

"I'm here."

* * *

><p>Looking down at the index cards in my hands, I haven't rehearsed my speech yet. I probably should have but... it's too difficult. It was hard enough writing it, now I have to go up there and read it in front of everybody. Helga offered to write it for me, but it needs to be from me. They wanted me to do it because they wanted to hear what I had to say.<p>

"Hey..." She says from behind and puts her hand on my back. "It's almost time, love."

I look over to her and muster you a smile. She has her hair tied back in a low ponytail and has on a simple black dress. "I know."

"If you don't want to do this, it's not too late to back out."

"No, I... I'm going to do this. They'd want me to."

I see her nod and look away. We're down at the water front. They wanted their ashes spread out in the ocean, and me, Mom and Dad are going to do it together. Helga turns around and reaches out her hand. I let out a sigh, trying to be brave for my family and hold her hand on my way over to the podium.

Everyone is seated already and they were just waiting on me. They must have sent Helga to remind me. She holds my hand, running her thumb against mine the whole way until we get to the front, where she steps up to me and kisses me on the cheek. When she steps back, she gives me a look, asking me if I really want to do this. I give her a small nod and she smiles and sits down in the third chair in the front next to Mom and Dad.

I step up to the podium and put the index cards down, with all the information and the story that I want to tell. "Hi." I start. Everyone is looking at me, dressed in black, and they came here to honor my grandparents. "Thank you all for coming." I clear my throat and I'm ready as I'll ever be to start. "Seventy years ago, Phillip Shortman stepped off of a US carrier, after have just fought in World War two, and saw his girlfriend standing among the other wives and girlfriends waiting for their husbands and boyfriends. The only thing he said when she ran up to him... is 'will you marry me'. They got married that summer and were together ever since. They spent their whole lives with each other... even as kids. That's a certain kind of love that's unshakable, that can't be broken."

I look up from the cards and my eyes go to Helga, who smiles.

"It's the kind of love and friendship that can't be explained or analyzed, it just is. They were among the few people that actually found that person that they were meant to spend their entire lives with. To live with..." Be strong, "and die with. I'd like to say that I am who I am because of what my grandparents taught me. How to care for one another, to never give up and yet, how to accept the reality of how the world works, that sometimes you can't win, and that there's no secret formula or pass word that you can say that will fix everything and make all of your dreams come true, that you have to make your dreams into goals, and that you have to strive to accomplish those goals. They taught me that no matter how grey the skies are, how bleak things might look, or it might all seem like it's all against you, even when it seems like the end, you just gotta look up. That you can't just look away, or hide and shy away, you just have to look up. More than anything, that's what I hold most dear about them both. They taught me to look up."

I smile and step down and hear a small applause. It didn't go exactly how I wrote it, but they seemed to like it. Right as I'm a few steps away from the podium, I look up and see Helga stand up from her seat. I can see that her eyes are glistening with ears just before she throws her arms around me, and I hug her back as tight as I can. "That was beautiful." She says in my ear.

I lean back and grab her hand. "Come on."

Mom and Dad are already at the edge with the urns, and they don't seem to have any objections with me bringing Helga up with me. We stand in between Mom and Dad, with Dad on my side and Mom next to Helga. "They would have loved your speech, Son."

"Thanks, Dad."

Mom and Dad open the urns and Helga and I watch as they sprinkle the ashes into the water.

"Goodbye Grandma... goodbye Grandpa. I love you guys."

* * *

><p>"Helga, we're going to be late!" Phoebe yells and runs down the hall way.<p>

"We're not going to be late, Pheebs! You could have graduated three years ago, you know."

"I know, but I'm graduating today, and we're going to be late."

"Alright, geez Ms. Valedictorian. Get your panties untwisted."

We're graduating today, and the ceremony is in a half an hour. I'm excited for it to be over, and to be out of high school. The first year sucked, the second year wasn't so bad since Arnold and I first got together, first have of junior year wasn't so bad, second half was the worst. But senior year has been the best, by far. But I'm really looking forward to the summer, more specifically next week. Rhonda's taking everybody back up to her parents beach house for the week. I was busy writing all last summer, so this summer, Arnold and I are taking off. We're going to dedicate it to having fun. He mentioned something about going back up to that cabin we went to last year.

He's been better since his grandparents died last month. It was real quite around the boarding house for a long wile, but it's back to normal now. Well, even more normal now without Phil and Gertie antics to keep things crazy. I still remember that day I was hiding up on his roof that one day last year and Gertie came up and starting playing the piano. I'll always remember that talk.

"Come on, the boys are waiting for us!"

"Alright!" I shout down stairs. "Crimeny..." I mutter and grab my cap and gown off the dresser.

We run downstairs and out the door where Gerald is waiting in his car with Arnold in the front seat. "Hey babe." He says out the window.

"Hey love." I say and quickly get in on his side in the back.

We get to school and quickly find out seats. We had to sit for five hours rehearsing this stupid ceremony yesterday. Arnold sits just a few chairs down from me, and once this thing is done, Reba and Kyo, Stella and Miles and Gerald's parents are all going out to lunch, but I'm hoping Arnold and I can sneak away early.

The ceremony starts and the principal starts his speech and how he's recognizing us, blah blah blah. Phoebe's speech is next. She asked me to write it for her, and I was happy to do it, I just don't want people to know that the valedictorian asked me to write her graduation speech for her.

"And now, introducing the Valedictorian of the senior class, Ms. Phoebe Heyerdahl."

I send out a loud whistle above the applause, and I hear Gerald send out an 'ow' as she gets up to the podium.

"I want to start by saying that the speech I'm about to give, I didn't write. I promised I wouldn't say anything, but the last time I took credit for something I didn't write, I had a creepy little statue start talking to me."

There's a small laugh in the crowd, and I should be mad, but I remember her telling me about that.

"This speech was written by my best friend, and one of the greatest people I've ever met, Helga Pataki." There's another whistle coming from the audience, and I'm guessing that it's Olga. "There aren't many times where people say the things that we need to hear when we most need to hear them. Most people just wait for things to happen and just say I told you so with indifferently crossed arms. From the speeches I've heard given, that high school as been a fun ride and that the future holds hope, I've always wondered what it would be like if someone just got up and told it like it is. Because, after all, our generation is a generation of hand holders and hand sanitizers. What would happen if someone just showed us the reality of the world before we're thrust into it?

What if we were honest about the world beyond these walls? What if someone were to tell us the life lessons that we would only otherwise learn through personal, traumatic experiences? I may not be sparing you any heart ache, and it will probably be easy to hear, but will be harder to take to heart. Number one, the world isn't fair. Get used to it. A zebra in the wild breaks it's leg while running care free across the plains, and gets eaten by a lion. It's not fair, when the lion could have waited for the zebra's leg to heal, but the lion has cubs to feed. Trying to make the world fair is how communism started.

We're taught by the social norms that we all deserve a castle to live in, but aren't taught to take into account that someone has to slave to build it first. We've been instilled with a sense of instant gratification, impatience, and narrow mindedness in such a way that we think we deserve the world, but forget that we have to live in it. It's a generation that has spent so much time asking questions about life and not lived it. A generation that has spent so much time trying to figure out the point of it all, and not enough time trying to make a point of their own.

It's going to be hard to hear, but we aren't all that special, and we can't do anything we want. I can't be a professional basketball player because I'm not good at basketball. It's that simple. Just try to take away as much comfort and humility as you can with the knowledge that every single person you will ever meet in your entire life knows something that you don't.

So as we walk out of these walls and out into the world with the expectation to be productive and tax paying members of society, some of us may learn these lessons, enough to pass them down to the next generation, will know that you will look back on these days and realize how easy they were. Thank you."

There's an applause from everybody in the audience and I'm honestly surprised. I basically just insulted everybody in the room and they seemed to love the speech I wrote. I see Arnold lean forward in his chair and look over to me with a bright smile and give me a thumps up. I loves everything I write.

The ceremony drags on and we all get our diplomas and sit back down. Then we all stand up and throw our hats in the air and I let mine hit the ground and don't care to find it among the other people grabbing theirs. I just want to get out of here. I see Arnold making his way toward me with his cap on and the tassel hanging down right through the middle of his face. "You ready to get out of here?" He asks me and pulls me in by the waist.

"More than ready."


	30. Epilogue-Part 2

**A/N: This is part two, of five I've decided. You get a glimpse of where everyone is and where they're going. It focuses mainly on Arnold and Helga, but there are some other people in here too. Not nearly as long as the first part, but the next part will be, hopefully, quite a bit longer. I haven't started writing it yet. I write chapters as I publish them, so... **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Then<strong>_** Comes Love  
><strong>

"There you go." I politely say to one of the regulars and hand him his iced mocha.

I wasn't suppose to close tonight, it was Todd's night to close, but I'm stuck here again. I couldn't even get Rick to cover for me, but I'm being as nice as I can. I work on tips, after all. In fact, that was Helga's and I's first fight. She thought I was flirting with some of the customers on my first day. But she makes it a point to come in a lot, she even writes in here sometimes. And I like to brag to a lot of people that my girlfriend is a published author.

I'm working as a barista in a small coffee shop part time just off campus, a way to bring in some extra money. And it's a way for me to do something other than school work. We aren't hard up for money by any means ever since Helga got published, and even more so when she finished her second book in the series. Her first one, much to everyone's surprised, including Mom and Dad's, wound up on the best sellers list. Helga was allowed to dedicate the book, since she was given creative authority just after we graduated. She used the same words that she used to engrave the locket that she still wears.

But, since she already has her career on track, and a contract asking for three more books, not including the two she's already published or the one she's working on now, she's had to go on book tours. Two so far. The first one was three months long, last year. The second one, three and a half months, ends today. She's flying back home from LA tonight. I was suppose to pick her up at the air port tonight.

She had to 'postpone' her college education to focus on writing. But the only reason she did that is because of the new contract asking for more books over the course of the next three years. I was so worried about her the first year. She was really stressed out about getting everything done on time. She had a break about half way through second semester. I had get her to stop and breath, and demanded that we stay home for a day and just watch movies like we used to do on weekends back in high school. She fell asleep in my lap about half way through the second horror movie we were making fun off.

But I'm still in school, working on a music education degree. Helga and I are living in a really nice apartment that we're subletting from her publisher, her writing is going great, we're still very happy together. I'd have to say that I never imagined my life turning out this great.

As for Phoebe and Gerald, they're living in LA. Helga actually requested an extra stop on the tour to go down at visit them. Phoebe got accepted into Cal Tech, and Gerald into UCLA. I miss them, but we saw them over the summer. Phoebe had a tough choice, between Harvard and Standford, but California Institute of Technology apparently has a very tight theoretical physics department. She's doing very well, and is already working on her masters.

Gerald is working on stand up. Helga and I flew out to see him over the summer. He's really good. He's bit on him talking about being in a relationship with a physicist went viral on the internet. But he doesn't just do comedy. He started talking about real stuff, while still combining it with comedy. He talks about philosophy, everyday problems that we all face, ethical and moral stuff, but lines it all with comedy so it's still entertaining, and doesn't sound like just a lecture.

At this point, I've locked up and I'm on my way home. I haven't seen my girlfriend in four months, and I've had to be nice and had to have conversations with other girls on campus. It's even worse when the regular once ask about her. If I told her how many times I get hit on at work, she'd probably make me quit, which wouldn't be all that hard to be quite honest.

Our apartment is only a few blocks off campus, so I walk to work and to school most days, or bike when I'm in a rush. I'm on my way up now, tired, but still very excited to see her after four months. I really hope that she won't be mad about me not being able to pick her up at the air port. When I picked her up last time, she jumped into me and wrapped her legs around me. All I can do really is take a deep breath, open this door, and find out. I slip the key in and turn the deadbolt, and open the door. The lights are on, but I don't hear anything. Maybe she's in the shower. I hear Nelius' tags jingle and hear him bark out of excitement to hear that I'm home. "Helga?"

"Oh my _god_!" I hear her from the bedroom, and then see her shoot out, passing Nelius and stopping him from greeting me. I laugh and drop my bag and open my arms to her. She throws her arms around me and we fall into the door, slamming it shut. "Mmmmm... I missed you so much, love."

I kiss her on the cheek and set her back down. She leans back and has on a face splitting smile, and her pajamas, a pair of pink flannel pants and a baggy t-shirt. "Not as much as I missed you, Bright eyes."

"You wanna bet?!" She surprises me and pulls me down and kisses me. I haven't kissed her in four months, I was starting to forget was it felt like. We kiss a few more times and we lean back with our arms still around each other, with Nelius' tail hitting me on the back of my legs. "I had to have dinner with some women from the publishing office in LA, and I swear, all these women did was complain about their husbands."

"What, you didn't do the same?" I jokingly ask.

"Actually, I made them very jealous. Especially when I told them what you got me for my birthday last year."

"You know, those classes weren't just for you."

"Arnold, you spent three months getting a masseuses certificate. And I can tell you for a fact... you passed."

"Anything for you, bright eyes. You've given me everything else, and I'm not including you."

"Can we have sex now? I just got home from a four months book tour, you got home three minutes ago and we still have our clothes on. We're already five minutes behind schedule."

I laugh turn her around, walking her back to the bedroom. "So I take it tantric is out of the question then?"

"We'll try in the morning, now _go_!"

* * *

><p>Mmm, that was better than the last book tour. Much better since it wasn't in the backseat of the car in the back end of long term parking.<p>

He fell asleep about five minutes ago, but I slept the whole flight home. He had to work all day. I'm so close to having him quit, but he sneaks me a latte every now and then. I still remember the first time he tried latte art. He's gotten better at the smiley face, but the first one looked like something out of a horror movie. But there is the occasional coed who waltzes in and starts hitting on him. I got really pissed off because I absurdly thought that he was flirting with them on his first day, but he's just nice to them, and he really likes to brag to them, to everyone really, that his girlfriend is a published writer.

I didn't think it would take this much. I'm constantly writing, on the phone with Janette or Olga, at meetings. But I have some time off coming, part of the agreement that I go on a four month book tour all over the country. They wanted me to go overseas to Europe, but it wouldn't be for any more than I had already agreed upon, so we agreed that it would be part of the next tour when the fourth book gets published, which luckily, won't be for another two years.

I hired Olga to take care of promotional stuff. Her work talking to certain people, and showing them my work when the first book was getting published is probably the reason it's gained the popularity that it did. She works with the publisher on contractual stuff, tour dates, locations, pay, all that stuff that I don't have the time for, and don't have the trust to put in the hands of my publishers. If it was up to them, I'd never get to see Arnold again, I'd be on the road on book tours so much. Olga is the one that got me this time off, all though I may have suggested it about two months into this tour.

Arnold couldn't be any more supportive of my writing. On the last book tour, he said that he read the first book the whole time, over and over again because he missed me so much. It was the most time we spent apart since we broke up in high school. It will be so good to have a good night sleep. I haven't had one in four months. I discovered early on during the first tour, that I've gained the inability to sleep if he's not with me.

But the past two years have been amazing. This year has probably been the best though. I was a little overwhelmed freshman year. With the publishers breathing down my neck for the second book, and trying to get all my assignments in on time, and not getting to spend any time at all with my boyfriend, it wasn't a hard choice to drop out of school... for now. I've teased the idea of going back and finishing whenever the contract is over with, but I think by that point, I won't see the point.

Arnold didn't want me to pay for his tuition, and that he wanted to pay for it himself, but I said that I wouldn't have it. With the take off of these books, we aren't in any kind of debt. We're living in a really nice apartment in a really nice part of town a couple blocks from Hillwood U. It has a really nice kitchen, really nice bedroom, bathroom. Janette bought it when she thought that her marriage would be ending, but when her and her husband got back together, she was left with it, and gave us a deal on it. Good thing too, from what I hear not many land lords would lease us a place at our age.

Who'd have thought that I would be this established in my writing career this soon. I was going to tell him about the interview I have tomorrow morning so he could go with me, but my mind was other wise occupied. Olga set it up, sort of a biographical thing. I just wish they had done it after I'm done with my vacation. But I told them that this is the absolute last thing. Arnold is taking finals and then we're going away next week. Don't know where yet. Maybe we'll just stay home.

It's weird, reading on the internet, stuff I see from old friends in high school, most of them are in college, living in dorms, working part time jobs, taking out student loans, worrying about grades, or this or that, and I just look at my life, and sometimes it catches me off guard how lucky I got. Arnold and I are twenty one years old, living in an up town apartment with a dog, I'm a published author with two books out and another almost done, Arnold is a very gifted musician and is told by all of his professors that he shows a very talented musical mind, and with the rate he's learning, could potentially get a job teaching in any school in the country in just under five years of studying.

And just three years ago, I was scared to death of people knowing that we were in love.

* * *

><p>"Mmm, morning, bright eyes." He says in his groggy morning voice and rolls over and lays his arm across me. I smile and my mind flashes back to when he first started calling me bright eyes. It was during one of our role play nights, fifties. He was the charming PI, I was the ruthless mobsters daughter.<p>

"Morning, love." I've been awake for about five minutes, just enjoying the feeling of having him next to me in bed again. All those lonely nights in hotel rooms. Most nights, I had to fall asleep with the TV blaring just to get me to fall asleep.

"You promised we would go for tantric this morning." He says as if he's about to fall asleep.

"How bout when you actually wake up? And besides, we have to be downtown in a few hours."

"For what?" He asks, rolls over onto his back and stretches.

"Olga set up this biographical interview for some show. I wanted you to come with me."

"Why, aren't they just going to ask you about the book?"

"Olga said that they were more interested in how I got my start. So I think it appropriate that I bring my muse."

"I'm your muse now?"

"You were always my muse, love. Ever since that cute little boy that held his umbrella over a sad, mud covered little girl."

He looks away and sits up on a sigh. "Helga, can I ask you something?"

"...sure." He never usually asks me if he can ask me something. We've been together for five years, after all.

"If you wanted, you could have anyone you wanted. You're very well off, you're stunningly beautiful, you're strong, confident, brilliant. And you're putting me through college." I think I know where this conversation is going. "I don't want to sound insecure or anything but... why would you do that for me?"

"Since you asked me something, can I tell you something?"

"Anything."

"Whenever word first got out about us back in high school, and I ditched school, I went up to your roof to hide out. I was up there for about an hour before Gertie came up and sat down on the piano, and started playing. Pretty soon, we got to talking and I asked her how her and Phil were able to make it last as long as they did. She laughed and she said that all they did was love each other, that she was there for him, and that he was there for her. I knew that there was more to it, but I think that she knew that her and Phil were just made for each other. That they belonged together."

"You talked to Grandma back in high school? You never told me this."

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal. And if you're worried about me finding someone else, you need not worry. I've seen who else is out there. None of them would even think of doing half of the things that you've done for me. Like that dinner I told you about, with the women from the office in LA. All they did, the whole time was complain, and carry on about their husbands. Jenny's husband won't get up off the couch to help with the kids, Carrie's husband might be cheating. Just on and on, and there I am, talking about how I come home one day and my boyfriend had drawn me a bath and had moved his keyboard in the bathroom to serenade me."

"You know that that was just a ploy to get you to take your clothes off, right?"

I laugh and scoot closer to him, wrap my arms around his chest and lay my head down on his shoulder. "Well, it worked."

"Although, I think I should tell you I did meet someone." He says and puts his arm around me.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, it's getting pretty serious."

"What? Where is she?" I sit up, a little worried, but I know he's joking.

"She's right over there on the night stand." He says and nods his head toward his night stand. I look over and see him looking at the picture of us that Phoebe took of us wrapped tightly in each others arms that day on the beach on our trip up to Rhonda's beach house. I remember I was confident enough to where that bikini that he first saw me in on our first beach trip that fateful night. I look back up at him and purse my lips. "She's the one on the right. A passionate love affair, it is."

"Then I guess you should know that I've been cheating on you with another blonde."

"Oh?"

"Kind of a push over, likes to have his nose scratched, needs a hair cut, but..."

"Is his name Nelius?"

"Yes, it is." I say and look over to Nelius, who's been staring at us with perked up ears for the last ten minutes. "Yes it is, yes it is! Whose a good boy, who's my good puppy!" Nelius jumps up on the bed and starts licking me in the face and I laugh. Arnold grabs him and pulls him on top of him with a playful growl and Nelius licks his face and wags his tail across the bed. It's just like any other morning in bed, Nelius wrestling with Arnold, then trying to wrestle with me, me winning. But this morning has me all introspective. This morning, when I look up to my boyfriend of five years, and see the happiness shining in his eyes, in his bright, lovable boyish smile, all the memories, the love we have for each other, the things we've done for each other all ring in my head.

My breaking down in his lap at two in the morning the night I found out my mom died, our first trip up to the Sanctuary Woods Inn, that night on the beach when he kissed me and how giddy and excited I was, our first anniversary in high school and how we made love, and how crappy the first time was, and how amazingly awesome it is now. I can see him rushing the stage at the prom and declaring to the world that their opinion doesn't matter, and that he loves me, his bright smile when I declared my love that day in the hallway.

Everything we've been through, and everything we're going through, and going to go through together, and how I know we will come out stronger every time for it, just makes me more and more certain that we're made for each other.


	31. Epilogue- Part 3

**A/N:Hi Everyone! Long wait, I know. **

**But here it is! And I kind of lied. I didn't realize how long this chapter would run. So I'm cutting it into two parts. If I had gone any further it would have ended up being over eleven thousand words. So the actual wedding will be in the next chapter. And I know it's been a while since I've updated, and I have no excuse other than lack of willpower. I apologize. **

**Anyway, here is part three. **

**Then Comes Engagement**

* * *

><p>Am I overstepping by doing this? I just want to do it right. Helga would probably kill me if she knew that I wasn't actually teaching a lesson today.<p>

I got Grandma's ring in the will. It's the one thing I never told Helga about. I got the piano, and a tiny velvet box with a note taped to it. I guess they knew their time was coming. All it said was 'when you two are ready'. Well, after seven years, I'm ready.

Helga finished two more books, and is just starting the last one in the series. I can tell that she's glad to have it come to a close. She's getting really tired of writing fiction. She actually got an interesting offer about a year ago. She got a call from someone wanting her to write something that really peaked her interest. Whenever we had that interview right before we went out to the Caribbean, Helga talked about a lot of things, from her being a bully, and the reason she was a bully, and what would have helped her to cope with being in her position, she got a call from Olga who said that someone wanted her to write a book based on it.

She's more excited about writing that than she is about her novels. The novels have gotten really popular though. They wanted to start making a movie out of them and asked her to help out on the script, but she said she didn't want anything to do with it. Mainly because it would mean us having to move out to Atlanta, where they're shooting it. We're very happy where we are.

But here I am, driving down the street, looking for an address on these old, run down, brick buildings in the lower part of Hillwood. I'm looking for Bob. I want to ask him something.

We're ready. I know we're ready to get married. We've already made a semi-silent life long commitment to each other, but, call me selfish, I want her to be my wife. I've had the proposal planned out since she told me back in high school that night up in the woods that she wanted us to get married.

I"m starting a teaching job next year down in Oregon, at a middle school. I've thought about teaching high school, or even college. But the more I thought of it, the more I felt that I need to get kids started on music, get them interested in it, instead of getting them when they're already into it. I spent this last semester doing my TA at Hillwood High. Mrs. Hood was very impressed at how far I've come.

But after Helga finishes this last novel, I know she's done with fiction. She's been wanting to get into non fiction since the third book. She wants to write something that she feels would make a real difference. I felt so proud of her when she told me that when I came home one day to find her writing on the couch with a tired and bored expression on her face. She usually has more of a concentrated stare. I know I've woken up in the middle of the night more than once to find her side of the bed empty, padded over into the second bedroom that she uses for her office and found her sitting in the dark, writing furiously, saying inspiration struck in her sleep.

But as of now, I found it. It took me a bit of phone calls to find him. He sold their family home just a year after we graduated. His electronic business went under two months prior. From what I heard, he started gambling. Everything from horse races, to casinos, to betting sports. Even Olga hasn't talked to him since their mother passed. And as far as I know, Helga hasn't even thought about him since then. But I managed to find out where he's living now. A studio apartment in the lower east side of town.

I take a deep breath and turn the car off and climb out. I lock the car and turn the alarm on and quickly making my way inside. I grew up in neighborhoods like this, but I guess I've been living in an uptown loft for five years now, things change. I take the stairs to the third floor, passing by more than a few people giving me a sideways look, and stop at the door at the end of the hallway with a 'J' on it. Taking one last deep breath, I knock.

I hear some moan on the other side of the door, the floor creak and the door slide open. Wow, he really let himself go. This is not the Bob Pataki I grew up knowing. This man has a bald head, save for a few strands going across the top and some on the sides, a deep five o'clock shadow, and dark, bagged red eyes. He's wearing a dirty old wife beater, and some green sweatpants. "Who are you?" He asks me in a groggy, guttural voice.

"I'm uh... Arnold Shortman, sir. I was hoping to talk to you, Mr. Pataki."

"Shortman?" He says and squints his eyes. "You're the boy that my daughter went on about."

"She's uh... Helga's actually the reason I'm here. Can I come in?" I don't know why I asked that. I don't want to go in there, but I want to do this right.

Bob lets out a sigh and turns around and shuffles back into his small apartment and plops down in an old recliner that's just a few feet away from a small TV and has a small table beside it, covered in trash with an open bottle of whiskey sticking up. "What does she want now? Money?"

"No, sir, we're doing very well." I say and look around at the trashed apartment. He doesn't take very good care of this place. The sink in the kichenette is overflowing with dirty dishes, there's old food packages over the little counter space he has, and the small room he lives in isn't much better. I make my way into the main room, grabbing a small wooden chair off the wall and sitting down a little ways from him. He's just staring aimlessly into the TV. "I don't know if you know this, Mr. Pataki, But you're daughter is a four time best selling author. She's the author behind The Eyes of Green books." I don't really expect him to know that. Helga uses an anagram on her books.

"If you don't want money, then what are ya doin' here?" He says and pulls the whiskey bottle out of the pile of trash and takes a long swig.

"Well, Helga and I have been together for about seven years now, and I wanted to ask you something."

"So ask."

"I was hoping that you'd give me your blessing, Mr. Pataki. I'm going to ask her to marry me."

"Marry you?!" He says and gives me a blithe look. "What does this have to do with me? Neither one of my daughters wants anything to do with me. So why are you really here, kid? What, she too scared to come talk to her old dead beat dad herself? Afraid that I'll hit here again?" He asks bitterly and takes another swig. "She send you here to do it for her?"

"Actually, if she knew I was here, she'd probably kill me. Helga doesn't know I"m here. I guess I'm just here to let you know. I'm going to marry your daughter whether you approve or not, sir. She's my better half, she's everything to me. I love her more than anything else in the world. I thought you deserved to know... but maybe she was right about you all along." I say and stand up, what a waste of time. "Maybe she is better off without you."

I start on my way out and cant' wait to get out of here and back to my girlfriend. I step over an old pizza box and make for the door, hearing him shuffle around the trash a bit and the bottle clink against another empty just looking for more booze. I guess Helga was right not wanting to drink alcohol on our twenty first. She's always worried she'll end up like her mother if she does. I've already promised her that I won't let that happen. "She wanted to get better." I hear him say right as I'm about to open the door.

"What?"

"Mariam." I turn around and see him holding a small picture frame. I take a few steps back toward him and see him holding a picture of Helga's mom. "The day she died, I remember her coming to me that morning. I was on the phone with one of our suppliers that wanted to up their prices or something. She came to me and said something a program up north. I was too busy to hear her out. I don't think I would have really listened if I had. I told her not right now, and went off. I guess it was then that she realized that I really didn't care."

"She wanted to get better and you threw it in her face." Helga was right to leave.

"I didn't want to hear it at the time, but Helga was right." I sit back down slowly. He's still looking down at the picture with a sorrowful expression. "The day she walked out on me, she told me something that I hear everyday. She said that with me as a father, she should have been a junkie, or a hooker. She said to me that the only reason she's not is because of you." Me? "She said that she wanted to be a better person because of you. Not because of anything I did. I wasn't any part of her life, and the only reason she was able to make something of herself is because of a boy that I never even got to meet."

He lets out a long sigh and sets the picture frame down in his lap. I guess he deserves to have someone hear him out. I know Helga won't.

"You know, kid, I know it don't mean much, but I still hate myself for what I did that day."

"When you hit her." I say past grinding teeth.

He closes his eyes and sadness washes over him. "I did something that I promised myself I would never do. Growing up, I got hit. Everyday. My old man would come home from bar, take off his belt, then put it on me. Got out of there as soon as I could and met a girl who could just... do anything. Sing, dance, she was smart, beautiful, confident. I guess I had more of my old man in me than I thought." He lefts the whiskey bottle up to his lips again, but stops right before the liquid hits his lips. He lets out a long, frustrated sigh and sets the bottle down. "You said my daughters a writer?"

I smile as pride fills my chest. "She goes by H.G. Creek."

"Creek?"

"She said that Pataki is derived from a Hungarian word meaning creak."

I see him smile and shake his head. "My daughter is _the _H.G. Creek? My daughter wrote those books that people were mobbing each other over?"

"Shes actually about to start a book called 'Everyone Needs an Umbrella'. It's about helping people in situations like hers."

His smile widens and he chuckles a few more times, then lets out another sigh. "Listen kid, if my daughter didn't need me to become what she is, then you don't need me to give you permission to marry her. If she's anything like her old man, she'll marry you anyway. Just... do me a favor." He says as I stand up to leave again. "Be a better man than me, ki... Arnold."

"I'll try, Mr. Pataki."

I make my way back home, which takes about forty-five minutes, and by the time I'm pulling to a stop outside of our building, it's just after eleven o'clock. It will take about two hours to get there, plenty of time. I head upstairs and open the door to find Helga coming out of her office with another box of books. "More books to endorse?" I ask her.

"Ugh, I swear, I'm so sick of it." She says and sets the box down heavily on the table.

"Why?" I ask her and step up to her, wrapping my arms around her waist while hers go around my neck. "I thought you stopped actually reading them."

"I did. I just read the summary on the back and make up something nice." She leans up and kisses me chastely. "So how was the lesson?"

"Just fine. And now that I'm off for the rest of the weekend, I thought we'd go for a drive."

She raises an eye brow in suspicion and leans back a bit. "A drive? A drive where?"

I smile and pull her in a bit closer. "How about the beach?"

* * *

><p>It's pretty weird that he wanted to come here. He usually has more on his mind, especially lately, with his new job down in Oregon. We're suppose to be moving down there next month. But, I guess he has been acting pretty weird lately. I can't really put my finger on it, but he's just been... off. Maybe he's just nervous about the job.<p>

But, here we are, walking hand in hand down a beach, bare foot, with the wind blowing in our faces. We brought Nelius with us, and he's running up and down the beach beside us. Come to think of it, this stretch of beach looks really familiar. Huh.

"So, you're finally going to reuinite Carson with his parents then?" He asks me. I don't know why I told him that. He knows that the story is based on him and his parents time trapped in the Amazon.

"Yeah. I figured I've jerk the readers around long enough."

He laughs and tightens his grip in my hand. But when his grip slackens, I feel his hand trembling. I look over to him, and see that he looks like he's breathing hard. "Is something wrong, Arnold?" After he doesn't answer, and just keeps walking, I ask again. "Arnold?"

He stops and looks around, draws in a deep breath that has a very evident shake to it. "Okay, right here." He mutters to himself.

"Arnold, what's going on?" He's starting to scare me.

He finally meets my eyes and he looks like he's about to pass out. "Helga, I-I... I have a bit of a confession to make."

"Okay..." I say slowly as he takes both of my hands in his. I don't think his hands have ever been this sweaty.

"Do you remember our first trip up to Sanctuary Woods?" I nod. "Well... that first night... I wasn't really asleep."

"Huh?" Wasn't really asle... oh my god.

"I heard everything, Helga." The beach. This is the beach where we... oh my god. "Helga, Seven years ago today, I came down to this beach thinking that it was just a way to get some air. But my life changed forever that night because I found you. I fell in love with you that night, Helga."

"Oh my god."

"I know that I'm two years late, but I wanted to be in a place where we were both secure in our futures. And now that I'm starting a job in the fall, I know that we're ready."

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god."

His smile brightens even more face splitting than it is and he lets go of my hand, the tide starting to come in. He reaches into his pocket, and my eyes are fixed on his hand fishing into his pocket. His other hand is shaking almost violently in mine, but I think mine is shaking just as much. His hand comes out of his pocket holding a small black box. "Helga, there's something I wanted to ask you for a very long time."

"Oh my god."

He lets go of my hand and kneels down in the water that is starting to wash in. The box flips open and I'm staring at the most beautiful ring I've ever seen and I feel my heart explode. "Helga..."

"Oh my god."

"Geraldine Pataki..."

"Oh my god."

"Will you marry me?"

My body surges into action, and the next thing I know, I'm tackling him to the ground, my lips forcefully on his, my arms rightly around his neck, the tide washing over us. Oh my _god! _He just proposed to me! I've been waiting for this moment for twenty-four years, and it's more beautiful than I've ever imagined. I didn't think it was possible to be this happy! We still haven't broken the fierce kiss that I tackled him with and I still haven't answered him. We break the kiss and I lean up, my hands burying themselves in the wet sand and the salt water, my hair and clothes wet. "You heard me that night. Telling you that I wanted you to propose to me on the beach where we first kissed."

"I wanted to do it on the FTi building, but they tore it down about three years ago."

"You heard everything." He heard me say that I wanted kids. We've never talked about marriage, or kids. I was always afraid to broach the subject.

Another wave washes in and soaks his back again. "So, is this a yes?" He asks and brings his arms around and shows me the rings again.

I smile and say the words I've been wanting to say since I was three years old. "Yes, Arnold. I will marry you."

* * *

><p>I let out a long sigh and finish off the sentence I'm writing. Writing never seems so mindless. I really can't wait to start writing non-fiction. Something that people will actually read and take to heart. Sure I've gotten fan mail about how my books have changed peoples lives and how it saved them from whatever situation they were in. But I want to make a real difference with my writing. If I can somehow get one little girl with a dead beat father and an alcoholic mother from becoming like I was, I can retire from writing very happy.<p>

Arnold and I announced our engagement just last week, but we've been engaged for a little over a month. We told Gerald and Phoebe, and Phoebe said that Gerald was going to tell a story about us on his next special. They're suppose to come up here and visit us sometime next month. Ever since Phoebe got her first doctorate last year, she's been so busy.

But thank god for Olga. We told her the day after Arnold proposed, and she jumped at the opportunity to plan our wedding for us. I did ask her to run any major things by me though. She's coming over this morning to officially start. And with the knock on the door, and a loud bark from Nelius, I set my laptop aside and get up from the couch. I open the door and let Olga in. "Hey little sister." She hugs me for a second and makes her way inside. "So where's your fiance?" She asks happily.

A warmness floods my system when she asks me that. I haven't gotten used to Arnold being my fiance instead of my boyfriend yet. "He's teaching lesson at school."

"Oh, well, I was hoping that he'd be here so I can talk to you both, but it's okay."

"You want Arnold's help planning the wedding?"

"Helga, come sit down." She says and sits down at the kitchen table and opens her laptop. She sounds serious.

"Okay..."

She starts typing for a few seconds and then looks up to me. "I spoke to Janette and we both agreed that it was time to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

She starts typing again and starts again. "Whenever your first book started to really take off, Janette and I both agreed that we would keep some of your earnings from you until we felt that you could use it responsibly."

"Wait, you what?! You mean you kept a portion of my own earnings from me? How much?"

"Eighty-five percent."

"_What!_" I'm so far beyond angry right now I could kill her. What right does she have to pull a stunt like this!

"Let me explain, Helga." She urges me. "This kind of money changes people, Helga. Janette and I were both worried that if you knew how much money you'd actually made off the books, you'd stop writing and go crazy with it. So we agreed that we'd keep most of it in an account until you were ready to start a life with Arnold. And now that you two are moving down to Oregon, Arnold is starting a new job, and you're getting married, we feel you're ready."

"How do you know what I would have done with the money if I had had it then?"

"Because I know what I would have done with it at your age. We agreed that we'd give you enough for you and Arnold to get by comfortably and have just enough spending money to keep yourself out of trouble and not go off buying a fleet of sports cars and other... more addictive things."

"Wait... how much money are we talking about here?" She smiles and turns her laptop around. Once I see the figure I'm staring at, I feel my jaw go slack and my heart stop. I fall back in my chair, still staring at the _seriously _large number in a bank account that's in my name. "I'm a multimillionaire?" I ask over the shock in my system. Maybe I just fell asleep while writing. That's it, this is just all some kind of dream.

"You're a four time best selling author responsible for one of the most popular series of books in the world, Helga. You really thought that you were pulling down a measly hundred fifty thousands a year?"

I honestly don't know what to think. I knew that I was well off, maybe even a little bit wealthy, but this? There's over twenty million in this bank account. I knew the books were popular, but I didn't know they made this much. They're pretty huge in Australia and the UK, from what I've found out on the last book tour in Europe, bigger than they are here in the US, not to mention I heard something about royalties from the movies. Arnold and I could live anywhere in the world on this. We could just spend the rest of our lives living in resorts, being pampered and waited on and...

No.

That's exactly why Olga kept this from me until now. This isn't just for Arnold and I. Stella and Miles need a new car, and they just lost another border, so they're thinking of selling the boarding house. Phoebe said that they were low on donations for the planetarium that she works at, and Gerald's income as a comedian is just now coming in from the DVD's of his first special. Arnold and I are going to need a place to live down in Oregon. We haven't talked about it yet with everything else on our minds, but...

This is also for our kids.

I know he heard me say that night in high school that I wanted to have kids with him. It's been in the back of my mind, and has been edging forward a lot lately. Every time we'd start making love, and he'd reach over into the night stand, there's been this nagging voice telling me to stop him.

He'll be home in about twenty minutes, I'll tell him then. We're suppose to start packing tomorrow to move down to Oregon. We already have a temporary apartment leased until we can find a house. In the mean time, I know Olga wants to start planning the wedding, and Arnold already knows where he wants to get married, and when he ran his idea by me last week, I loved it. I talked to Rhonda about it, and after finding our that she now owns her parents beach house, she said that she'd love to host it. Getting married on the beach where we first got together, sharing our first kiss as husband and wife on the spot where we shared our first kiss ever.

I'll have to use that in a book one day.

Olga and I go over where and when we want to get married and she said that she'd get to work on save the dates. I already know that I'm going to have a hard time deciding who my maid of honor will be, between Olga and Phoebe. Sure, Olga is my big sister and she's mostly responsible for getting me to where I am right now, but Phoebe took me in when I ran away from home. Olga is my sister, but Phoebe has always been there for me, even before Arnold and I got together. She never hesitated. I think Olga would understand.

Olga leaves and just a few minutes later, I hear the door open and a shoulder bag hit the floor, and Nelius let out a small bark of excitement that his Daddy's home. "I'm home, hun." I smile from the office and close my laptop. "Helga? You home, honey?"

I smile and feel my bottom lip curl in between my teeth, and call out to him from the office. "I'm in here, love. You know how you wanted to hire a big jazz band for our wedding, and I didn't think we could afford it?"

"Yeah. I was half joking when I said that though." He says as he comes into the office and leans down over the back of the chair to kiss me on the cheek.

I smile and reach up behind me and run my fingers into his hair. "Well, there's something I should tell you."

* * *

><p>"Oh, Helga, you look gorgeous!" Olga coos as I walk out.<p>

This is the fifth dress that her and Barbra have made me try on. I smile and turn around to look myself in the mirror. This is actually the only one of the bunch I've liked. It's simple. Long gown with a smooth mid-section, spaghetti straps, with pearls in the shape of a 'v' going up the chest. And it isn't until I look myself in the mirror that I realize I have a face splitting smile screaming across my face. I look down and run my hand over my stomach. "I love it."

"I take great pride in my work, Ms. Pataki. And you do look absolutely radiant." Barbra says and fans out my veil.

Arnold and I are getting married in two months. Most of the other plans are in place. Rhonda's beach house on July twenty sixth. I've let Olga handle the other minor details that I can't bother with. We're living down in Oregon in a really nice town called Crestwood. Arnold is the music teacher at Crestwood middle school, and is absolutely loving it. His first year is going better than he ever expected. I've never seen him happier than I did the day he came home from his first day. We're still living in a two bedroom apartment for now. We're going to start looking for a house after we get back from our honeymoon in Bora Bora.

Now that The Eyes of Green series is finished, I can finally retire from fiction. I've already started on my new book. I'm going to use my real name this time. I haven't told him yet, but there's a reason why I didn't use my real name on the books. It's because I want to take his name. He still thinks I'm going to just hyphenate, but taking his last name has been on my list of things to do before I die for a long time. I've been saying it to myself ever since he proposed to me.

Helga Shortman... I like that.

I look at myself in the mirror again and twirl the dress from side to side. I feel so giddy and happy. But when I look at myself in the mirror again, an uncomfortable wave of heaviness washes over me. I know what it is, but I don't want to think it. My heart is starting to pound, and I can't stop staring at the empty chair that Olga was sitting in in the mirror. She should have been here.

"Is something wrong, Helga?" I hear Olga ask me from the side.

"I-I... uh..." She steps in front of me and puts a hand on my shoulder. Not the way Arnold does. If he saw me like this, he'd put his hands my sides and slowly run them around to my back and pull me in, forcing me to move closer to him and run my hand sup his arms and around his neck. But Olga's doing her best, and it does feel helpful. "Olga, when..."

"... What is it, Helga?"

"When you were growing up, was... was Mom..."

I see her smile and slowly nod her head. "Mom was a very happy woman, Helga. Even when you were born. When I was a litte girl, she taught me how to play the piano, how to cook. Your mother was a very bright woman, Helga."

"Then what happened?" I ask with a little bitterness.

I see her look down and her smile disappear. "After you were born, and the post postpartum depression hit, Dad was just too focused on the family business to help her. So, I guess when Mom realized that, she just slipped further into her depression."

I don't know what emotion to focus on. Anger, depression, rage, sadness, grief?

Olga, seeming to sense this after I looked away, seemed to sense this. "She loved you, little sister, I know you probably don't think so, but she loved you."

I really don't know if I believe her. I don't remember a time in my life when Mariam was motherly. She never talked to me about anything. But I do know one thing. I'm going to be so much better to my kids.

* * *

><p>"So, I'm in the back of the comedy club signing DVD's and everything, and that same guy comes up to me and invites me back to his place." I laugh and fist bump Gerald from across the table. He's really funny. His second special aired and he talked about us getting engaged, telling a story about how me and Helga grew up bitter enemies, but now are more in love than I thought possible.<p>

We're getting married tomorrow. Phoebe and Gerald flew up from LA yesterday and we took them out to lunch. Gerald and Phoebe have been butting heads just like they used to. Competing over who's more famous. "I've had people offer to take me on five star resort cruises." Helga says over her sparkling water.

Gerald just sends her a deadpan stare.

"E-Excuse me?" A voice says next to the table. I look over and see a teenage girl, looking very nervous and holding a book. "I-I didn't mean t-to interupt your meal, but..." I see Gerald smile smugly and start to lean forward. "Are you Dr. Phoebe Heyerdahl?"

I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing at the look on Gerald's face. Phoebe looks up and smiles. "Yes, I am."

"I-I just have to say, I loved your work on the effects of quasars. Could you... um... sign your book for me?"

"I don't believe this..." Gerald mutters over his glass while I'm still having to keep from busting out laughing. Phoebe signs the book and thanks her and she goes off, and after about ten seconds after. Both Helga and I burst out laughing. "Talk about a humbler."

"Come on, Gerald, look at the bright side. At least one of you has autograph seekers." Helga says with a grin. Phoebe's work consulting on multiple projects concerning the universe is something even I've heard of. Man, looking at the four of us, I'm the only one sitting here that isn't famous. But I love my job. Next year, I'm going to start arranging my own pieces. Our spring concert went well, but there was just something in the pieces we played for all groups that just felt off.

But, in the meantime, Helga is driving up to the wedding with Phoebe this afternoon, and I'm going Gerald, and we're having the reception at a small restaurant. Then, in the morning, we're getting married. And as Helga and Phoebe carry on a conversation, I look over to my wife-to-be and lean over and kiss her on the cheek. She told me last month that she was taking my name. It was never something I had my heart set on, and I would have been fine with her hyphenating, or even just keeping her own last name, but she wants my last name. She said that being a Pataki was never something to be proud of, that the Shortman's have proved to her to be a family name that is one that is honorable.

We talked about something else also.

I came home one day from school, and told her that one of the kids came to me one afternoon and asked for help on a piece she was working on herself. I showed her how it was suppose to go after school on the piano, and she thanked me and went home. When I told her about it, she kissed me and said that she wanted to try. She wanted to have a child with me. I want to have at least two, because I know what it's like growing up as an only child. I'm just so lucky I had Gerald, he's the closest thing to a brother I'll ever have. And Helga agreed, while her and Olga may not have been all that close growing up, she feels that her and Olga are real sisters now.

We're going to look for houses when we get back from Bora Bora, but truth be told, I've already started looking at listing during my prep period at school.

Particularly, one with a nursery.


	32. Epilogue-Part 4

**A/N: Kind of a long delay, but as some of you may know, I've been working on another story, the rewritten version of All the Difference in the World, which is getting mostly positive reviews, but could always use more. So this part is the wedding, hope you guys like it. **

* * *

><p><em><strong>Then Comes Marriage<strong>_

"Okay, okay. This one is from me!" Rhonda says over the people talking amongst themselves. Helga and I are sitting together with our chairs slid up against each other and I'm lazily leaning into her side while she has her arm open and around my shoulders. Rhonda is being the center of attention, as usual, and basically coordinating everything, while Olga goes downstairs to talk to Rick, a guy she met a few months ago.

Helga reaches forward and takes the eight by ten box and the room goes quiet. She opens the box, and I'm not really paying attention. I'm still tired from the bachelor party last night. The guys were very excited when they heard a knock on the door, and Gerald announced that he had hired a stripper. He grabbed me on his way over to the door, and said to play along. He opened the door, and ushered the stripper in and then he pulled me out into the hall with a smug grin on his face, then said that the guys didn't specify a male or female stripper. We went downstairs of the hotel we were staying at since the beach house is still getting prepared and played pool.

I'm definitely going to remember this when I'm old.

But, in the mean time, I'm watching my soon-to-be-wife open the lid to this small box that's in her lap. She pulls out a very skimpy and lacey piece of lingerie. Everybody in the room 'ooo's' and I take the piece from her and hold it up to my chest. "Thanks Rhonda, but... it might be a little big for me." I hear my fiance laugh, along with a few other people, but the only one I wanted to hear was her. She takes the lingerie back and puts it back in the box and the box back on the table.

When she leans back and I settle myself back where I was, with my back leaning into the cove she's creating for me, I lean up to whisper in her ear. "You're not going to tell her we already have that one?"

She puts her hand on the side of my head and presses her lips against me ear. "It got torn when you got Nelius to play fetch with it. Remember?"

Oh yeah. I feel her kiss me on the temple when my smile grows.

"That was the last one, love. You want to say something?" I look up to her and stand up, kissing her on the forehead as I do. Man, I don't think there's ever been a point when we've been this affectionate.

"Hi everyone." I say and pick up my glass. Everybody starts to listen and look up to me at the head of the table. When I know I have their full attention, I start. I've had this written since high school. "When I was a kid, I got bullied. I got bullied a lot. And I'm sure there are about thirty people in the room who can vouch for me." There's a few calls from the back. "This person would throw spitballs at me, squirt me with the water fountain, call me every name in the book, you name it, it was done.

And one day, in the fourth grade, one of my classmates was doing this game where you pick a number or whatever and it would tell you who you'd marry. So, I decided to give it a shot. And I played, hoping for a name of a girl that I thought was everything I could ever want. But instead, I got someone else's name. I knew it was a mistake. I mean, it couldn't be her, anyone but _her._ So I played again... and again... and again. Every single time I did this game, I would get the same name. Well, I wasn't too thrilled. For years I thought that it was just a fluke. But..." I look down to the love of my life, whose looking up at me with a shimmer in her eyes. "I'm very happy to say that it wasn't a fluke at all. So Rhonda," I say and look over to her just a few feet away from us, "it's taken sixteen years, but you were right all along. I am going to marry Helga G Pataki."

Everybody in the room starts to clap and cheer, and I feel Helga grab my hand and see her stand up. She puts her hands on my jaw and kisses me softly, but strongly. She leans back and has an emotional smile on her face. "Just so you know, that was the happiest day of my life when I was a kid." She says to me, lowly while the people behind us are still calling out to us because we kissed.

"Helga! Say something! Speech!" I look over and everybody has they eyes glued on her. I don't think she expected to have to make a speech, but if I know my fiance, she has one written in her head just like I did.

She looks back over to me with a soft smile and rubs my shoulder, and i sit back down, so it's just her. "When I was a little girl, I had a secret. A secret that I would do anything, go to any lengths to keep a secret. It lasted for a very long time. That secret was that I was in love with Arnold Phillip Shortman." She says and puts her hand in my hair. "I've been in love with this boy ever since I was three years old, madly, hopelessly in love with him. I had to convince four people to drop out of playing Juliet in the fourth grade just so I could kiss him for the first time. I snuck into his house a number of occasions to keep my secret safe. I know that some people would have called me crazy, and sure, I probably was. But I'm sure that if you ask him, he would say that he loves me even more when I'm acting crazy.

My secret didn't get out until I was seventeen, when he rushed the stage of our junior prom, making all the dreams I had as a little girl come true. He stood in front of the whole world, declaring that he didn't care what anybody thought, and that he loved me. Before then, I didn't think it was possible to fall any deeper in love than I was already with him. But ever since then, every morning when I look over to him, I can feel myself fall just a little bit more in love with him." She grabs onto my hand and pulls me up, then snakes her arms around my waist, so I move mine around her. "I know some people would say that I'm crazy to keep chasing after the same guy my entire life, but... I think that even as a little girl I knew..." She looks over to me with her beautiful soft smile, and loving blue eyes, "I was chasing after my husband."

* * *

><p>"Oh, Helga, you look..." Olga starts as Lori puts the finishing touches on my hair. Olga should be outside everything is ready. I'm getting married in twenty minutes for god's sake! I've been trying to act calm and collected all day, and so far, I'm doing a pretty good job. Olga is the only person I want to snap at and go just ape shit crazy on. Mainly because every time I see her, she gets all emotional and teary and starts crying saying 'her baby sister is getting married', then I roll my eyes and just want to be in Bora Bora in that big bed I made sure was in the hut with my husband.<p>

Stella is in the corner, and I'm sure Miles is with Arnold. I wonder if he's freaking out as much as I am. When Lori smiles and says that her works done, I give her a smile and she leaves the room. Now, it's just Olga, Stella and I. "Olga, could you go... check... something." I hear Stella say. I look in the vanity and see Stella practically shove my older sister out the door. Once the door is closed and I see her turn around, I can tell that she's wanted a chance to talk to me alone all day. There have been people buzzing around me like damn fruit flies all day. "You ready, sweetie?" Stella says when she meets my eyes in the mirror.

I look down at my engagement ring that I haven't let leave my finger since I put it on and sigh. "Mom, did you feel like you'd be a good wife when you married Miles?"

She laughs pulls up another chair next to me. "Honey, you and my son have been together for over eight years already. In my opinion, this wedding is just a technicality."

"I know, but... I-I mean, we've talked about starting a family. And when we both said that we both want kids, and neither of us were afraid to broach the subject, he just seems so excited about it, a-and I'm just sitting here thinking of the last time my family sat down at the dinner table, and I saw my own mother fall face first into her mashed potatoes."

"Helga, trust me, no one is one hundred percent ready to become a parent. You think Miles and I were when we had Arnold? I gave birth to my son in the middle of a volcanic eruption, for crying out loud! And trust me, my baby boy was the cutest creature I have ever laid eyes on but... that head of his..." I laugh and she shakes her head.

"Mom, I..." I let out a long breath and, even though it's just me and her here, I need room to breathe. "I think I just need a few minutes alone."

Stella nods and rubs my shoulder in a motion of comfort and stands up. "Alright, honey. I'll send Miles in when it's time to go, okay?"

I smile and return the small kiss on the cheek she gives me. After she closes the door behind her, I take a deep breath in and slowly let it out. This is the day I've been waiting for for over twenty five years. The day I marry Arnold. I know, we've been together for over eight years, we've been living together for six of those years, and we have an incredible relationship. But for some reason, I'm scared. Maybe because I'm afraid I won't make a good wife... or something. I don't know. And honestly, I don't have time to figure out what it is right now. Miles should be here in a few minutes anyway.

I'm having Miles walk me down the aisle because he's the closest thing to a father I have. Arnold thought that I was just going to walk myself, then he had the idea that we walk down the aisle together, but that's not how I have it written in my head. I've had this wedding written in my head since I was a little girl, and I've played it out more times than I can count. I think Miles was a bit reluctant to accept, but he was very gracious about the whole thing. Especially since we helped them sell the boarding house and move down to Crestwood with us. They love in a nice, two bedroom house about five minutes from our apartment. I just started calling them Mom and Dad one day. I don't think they've noticed yet, honestly. They've treated me like their own flesh and blood ever since they found out about me an Arnold back in high school.

"Wow..."

I'm snapped back to reality, my heart going into my throat at the sound of the voice that just cleared itself. I look into the mirror of the vanity and feel my entire body freeze at the figure that's standing in the door way. What the hell does he think he is doing here? Why couldn't he just stay in whatever hole he crawled into? I blink, hard, hoping that it's just my mind messing with me again. But when I open them, he's still there, clad in an old tuxedo that's missing a vest, tie, and a sense of class.

"You look just as beautiful as she did." He says with what looks like a smile. He's older, telling by the wrinkles around his eyes and the faded look of dignity etched into his face. I feel my blood pump in the veins in my arms, my nails digging into my palms so hard they might be drawing blood, the muscles in my arms flexing so hard they're starting to hurt, my teeth crushing against each other I can feel my jaw click. "That Arnold's a lucky man."

"Stop." I say once I see him take a step toward me. Surprised that he actually does, and even lifts his hands up in some kind of surrender, I continue, "What do you think you're doing here? Today... of all days?" I growl, keeping my voice low so I don't yell. I don't want my voice sounding coarse when I say my vows.

I see his tense shoulders deflate, and hear him let out a long breath. "I ain't proud of how I've been. After your mom died, and you left, I uh... went of the deep end. Hard too. Lost the business just a year after you left, then lost the house, started gambling, drinking. Trying to forget, I guess. Or maybe punish myself. At least that's what my doc tells me."

"Doctor? You're seeing someone?" Bob Pataki, the Big Bob Pataki I grew up with would never agree to see a therapist.

"Yeah." He says with a bit of embarrassment and a sheepish smile. "He's helping me work things out. Got a job running shipping at a lumber yard. I'm uh... I'm even one year sober. Arnold coming to talk to me was kind of a wake up call."

"Wait-" I feel every synapse in my brain freeze. "Arnold came to talk to you?! When?!"

"Last summer," He says with wide eyes. "He came to ask for you hand. He didn't..."

Arnold actually went to find my dad to ask for my hand in marriage? I always knew he was a quasi old fashion kind of guy, but he was there when I walked out. He drove me to Phoebe's house the day I walked out on him for god's sake. Why the hell would he think that he would need to ask my dead beat dad's permission to marry me?

"So, you're uh..." I hear him chuckle lightly, like he's actually amused at something, and I look back over to him and see that he's fighting back a smile. "You're H.G. Creek?"

"Is that what you wanted, Bob? Money?"

"No!" He says and takes a large step forward, starting to reach for me, but corrects himself a split second after. "I-I just wanted to see my daughter on her wedding day."

"What makes you think you have that right?"

"I know I ain't been the best father. Hell, I could have been a lot better." No shit. "And lord knows I have a lot to answer for. And you have to believe me, if I could go back and do it all over again, I'd do it."

"Tell that to Mom."

"Hey now, I loved your mother. I know you weren't around, but she's the reason you and Olga are so smart. You're mother was the most incredible woman I've ever met. Why she fell for someone like me, I'll never know. But she did, and she gave me the two best things that have ever happened to me. I know you don't wanna hear it, but... I do love you, Helga. And I couldn't be any more proud of how you turned out." Why isn't my blood pumping any more? Why aren't my arms flexing in fury, ready to strangle him? "Ha, no thanks to me, that's for sure."

I let out a long, shaky breath. I can't cry now. My make up will run and I'm getting married in two minutes.

"I am sorry, Helga. If you want me to leave, then I will, but..." He exhales sharply and takes another breath. "I want to be here. Maybe I'm just selfish is all, but I want to be a part of your life. You're my daughter, after all." There are words on the edge of my throat. Every part of me is telling me to say something. But I just keep my mouth shut, because I'm not sure what that something is. I would really like to know why part of me is telling me to hug him, and another part of me is telling me to strangle him. Bob hangs his head low, despair washing over him, and it almost looks real.

No... it is real.

"I'll just go then." He says and turns around. He grabs the handle of the door and-

"Wait." I feel push past the barricade I put up. He turns around, a lift seeming to come into his shoulders. "There's an empty chair in the front with a white rose in it for Mom, you can sit there."

"You left a seat open for your mother?"

"Olga insisted, and I felt that it was the right thing to do." He smiles and lets out a heavy breath, and I find myself fighting back the corners of my mouth. It's my wedding day, and I'm having to fight off a smile? I just want to see my husband. I just want to get married already! He just nods and turns back to the door. "Dad." Dad? Where did that come from? He quickly turns, probably surprised at how soft my voice sounded, or even me calling him Dad, it even surprised me. "Um... I uh..." Not yet. "Thank you for coming."

He smiles a bit and heads out the door, and after just a couple of moments to myself, trying to remember what the hell possessed me to semi make up with my father, Miles turns the corner. "It's time, sweetheart."

* * *

><p>"You nervous, bro?"<p>

"_Ha! _Why would I be nervous? I'm not nervous, of course I'm not nervous! Do I sound nervous to you? I don't sound nervous. I don't sound nervous, do I? No, I don't sound nervous. What do I have to be nervous about, after all? I'm just getting married to the most beautiful creature on the planet, on the eight year anniversary of our first kiss. Nope, nothing to be nervous about. Absolutely noth-"

"Dude!" He stops me with a hard shake of my shoulder. "It's okay, man. You're getting married, you can freak out a little."

"Fine, I'm nervous."

I'm standing at the altar, Gerald behind me, my heart pounding so hard it feels like its having a boxing match with my adam's apple, the classical guitarist in the back is playing prelude in D, a little faster than how I play it, not taking as tempo-ess as I play it, and I'm waiting for my fiance to walk around the corner on the arm of my dad and become my wife. I have my vows written on note cards in the inside pocket of my jacket, and honestly, I can't remember a single word of them. So much for all that time at home rehearsing them in front of a mirror, making sure I said every word right with just the right inflection. So, having to suck in a breath past my heart, I reach inside, and pull them out, looking over the nervous, shaky chicken scratch.

Okay, I, Arnold Phil... that's the bridal march.

I look up and I feel my whole body go weightless. I can't feel anything, but I can feel everything. She's beautiful. She's immaculate. I can't believe it. I'm marrying her? I get to be with _her _for the rest of my life? I get to have a family, raise children with her? Oh my god, she's walking up the aisle, her dress flowing with the small breeze in the air, her hair in a gorgeous bun, her dress hugs her perfect figure and looks so amazing. I feel Gerald holding my shoulders, and it isn't until then that I realize I've grabbed onto his lapel to keep myself from falling over. My eyes haven't let her, and when I feel Gerald straighten me back up and pat me on the shoulder heavily, I can see her giggle, her beautiful lips getting bitten in between her teeth to hold back her laughter. She's up to the front row, and she stops, turns around and Dad kisses her on the cheek and sits down next to Mom, who's already in tears.

My heart starts pounding when she meets my eyes again starts up the steps to the altar. "Hi."

She chuckles beautifully and extends her hands to me. "Hi, love."

"You look miraculous, bright eyes."

"I know, right?" She jokes and I feel my smiles split even more widely. That's my Helga.

"Dearly beloved..." The pastor starts, but I tune him out. Right now, I'm trying to remember what I wrote down as my vows. But I can't remember a single word. You know what? Screw it. I do my best work when I'm improvising anyway.

* * *

><p>He looks so happy. There was always a light in his eyes, a sparkle in his bright green iris' that showed me that he's happy. But it's so bright right now, it's almost blinding. Him almost falling over in the middle of my walk up the aisle is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my life. It's just so him. It reminded me of the dork that I'm happily about to marry.<p>

I know he isn't listening to the pastor rattle off. The note cards he dropped when he first looked up are on the ground beside Gerald, and I'm sure that those were his vows. He's probably going to improvise, and I'm sure it will be better than what he wrote. I, on the other hand, have had my vows written for a very long time. He probably knows that. He was adamant about keeping our vows a surprise though. I always thought that that's the point of writing your own vows anyway.

His hands that are wrapped around mine and shaking a bit, and his smile is so bright and face splitting that it looks as if he's experiencing the happiest moment in his life. I know that I am. "They will now share vows they each have written." I hear the pastor say. I look over to him and see him looking at Arnold expectantly, but when I look back over to him, he's still smiling at me. "Arnold?" He says.

"Uh, _oh!" _He laughs and smiles even brighter than he was. "I-I uh... I had something written but... our relationship was never about rehearsing how we felt about each other. We've always just taken each moment how it comes, saying how we truly feel about each other, and not leaving anything out. It's always been a seat of the pants operation with us. I've never had to sit down and write out how I felt about you and how I want to spend the rest of my life with you, because I've known."

Oh my god, he's going to make my make up run, I swear.

"You know, I-I've heard people say that after you've been married for a while, the flame dies out, the passion disappears. But I think it's because people stop trying. They just get used to things, so they expect it. But Helga, we've been together for eight years now, and I haven't stopped yet."

"No." I say quietly and shake my head.

"That's my promise to you, Helga. Not that I'll just love and cherish you for the rest of my life, or that I'll be the best husband you could ever hope for. But that I'll always try to be. I'll always try to be worthy of you, of the love you give me every day we've been together and going to be together. It's a promise I will try my hardest to keep, Helga. Because I love you more than anything else in the world, and you will always deserve my best shot."

Oh my god. I know I'm crying. That was so beautiful. I wish I could kiss him right now, but I have my own vows to recite to him. "Oh, Arnold."

His smile brightens again and I think he's proud of his vows that he made up. But now, "Arnold Shortman, on this day, where my life ends, our life begins. You have been the beam of light in the dark cave that was my life. The one ray of hope that I was lucky enough to find and cling to, unbeknownst to you that you were giving me hope with just existing. I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for you, Arnold. You made me want to better myself. To grow and become someone whom you would love. I am that person, because of you, Arnold. I am the woman you love because you are the man I've loved. I know I could spend the rest of my life telling you how much I love you and still not fully express it, but I want to give it a shot. And so, as I make a dream twenty five years in the making come true and marry you, I will say that I love you with all my heart and soul, and commit myself to proving it to you."

"Wow." He says quietly and breaks his smile out again.

"Arnold, do you take this woman..." The pastor rattles off again and I just look in his eyes that are shining brightly against the sun. His thumbs are stroking my hands, and he won't take his eyes off me. "Arnold?"

"Uh?" He says and looks over to the pastor again. "Oh." He says when he stops calling me beautiful with his eyes. He looks back over to me and smiles softly. "I do."

"And do you, Helga Pataki, take Arnold Shortman, to have and to hold, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, as long as you both shall live?"

"You know it, pal." I say, wanting him to get to the part where I get to kiss my husband.

"In the power vested in me by the state of Washington, I now pronounce you... man and wife. You may now-"

I launch forward and slam our lips together, and I feel my heart explode, my whole body go weightless, my feet feel like their flying off the ground when he spins me around and dips me, but my arms are so tight around him that I don't even notice. "... kiss the bride." I hear him finish over the cheering audience.

He lets my lips go and I look up to him and he's smiling so beautifully. "We're married now."

"Don't get too excited, we have our whole lives ahead of us."

* * *

><p>"And now, to deliver the toast, the best man: Gerald Johanssen!"<p>

Everybody starts cheering as Gerald jumps onto the stage and grabs the mic. "Well, well, well, well, well, we all knew that this day was comin', huh?" The crowd cheers again and I squeeze my wife's midsection with my arms and she taps her head against mine. Sure, she has her own chair, but we just got married. "Arnold and Helga, finally getting married. When you were to tell me that this day would come when we were kids, I would have been callin' and bookin' you a room at the sanatorium." Everybody laughs, and I feel my wife... ha, my wife, laugh. "You guys remember!" Gerald says and moves quickly around the stage like he usually does. He's always been very energetic on stage. "When we were growing up, Helga hate everybody, especially Arnold! But now that were all grown up, I look back on it and ask why the hell I didn't see it before."

"It was kind of obvious." I say to her.

"That's why I counted on you being that sweet, little, naive boy that I fell for."

"I still remember the day Arnold told me that they were dating. I had just gotten finished getting my ass literally handed to me from playing video games with him, then he tells me that the sniper that painted a bulls eye on my head was his girlfriend of a year and a half. And if that wasn't enough, he goes on to tell me that he needs to cover for him while he goes off to some bed and breakfast for the weekend."

"You _what?!" _

Uh oh. "We're married now, Mom!" I look over and see her at the table across the courtyard, standing up and looking furious. "Thanks a lot, Gerald!"

I look back up and see Gerald supporting himself with the mic stand, "Mmm mmm mmm, but, I have to admit that when he first told me, I thought that she had tricked him into something. But after a while I started to see what they saw in each other. And I know I'm not the only one that remembers the day that they came out." Everybody laughs and I can hear a few people agreeing with him by saying no and others laughing. "What was it again, Arnold? I love her and if you don't like it, I don't give a damn!" He says, mocking me by puffing out his chest. "I'll tell ya, first time I ever heard him cuss. It wasn't what I expected, but I knew I had to do something when I heard that they were going to prom with two different people. I remember dancing with my wife on the dance floor to an REO Speedwagon song, next thing I know, my boys rushing the stage. But still... best twenty bucks I ever spent."

Huh? "What does he mean?" I ask my wife.

She looks down to me and smiles. "He never told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Love, Gerald payed the DJ at our prom to play that song knowing that you'd be listening to distract yourself."

"He did? _Gerald _thought of that?"

"No, Phoebe did."

"But still, ever since then, they've been the happiest two people I've ever seen. And none of us may have seen it, but it's pretty clear now that you two belong together. So, in the spirit of that," He says and takes the champagne glass off the stool next to him, "if you could lift your glasses with me." We all pick out our glasses, "For Arnold, to finding the truest love in the most unexpected person, and for Helga, to never giving up on yourself, to being true to yourself, to being the strongest, toughest girl I've ever met, and to most of all... to love."

I lean up and kiss my wife on the cheek, "To love."

She turns and kisses me on the lips, "To love."


	33. Epilogue-Part 5

**A/N: Working on this the past few days. Hope you guys like it. There's just one more part to go, where I will tell it from a new character's point of view, maybe the set up for a sequel? Who knows. Probably not, with all the other stories going on. I want to get Can't See the Forest and All the Difference in the World finished before TJM airs, so I have about a year. Anyway, let me know what you think!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Then <strong>_**Comes the Baby**

"We are here with seven time best selling novelist, and recent Pulitzer Prize winning author on her new book _Everyone Needs an Umbrella, _Helga Shortman."

"Hi Kelly."

"So, only thirty one years old, you have a best selling series under your belt, which is still flying off the shelves with the recent installment of the third Eyes of Green movie, and now you have a Pulitzer. What's next for you?"

"Ha, some time off. I've been on book tour after book tour since I was nineteen. I think I owe my husband some quality time together."

"Yes, you and your husband, Arnold, have been in the subject of a recent biography, and your story has just been so touching. In love your whole life, together as high school sweet hearts, married for three years now, and still in love. Speaking for every girl out there, what's your guys' secret?"

"As I told the director of the biography, there was and is no secret. We just love each other and know that there's no one else we'd rather grow old with."

"And, your husband is actually here with you, isn't he?"

"He is."

They set down another chair beside me and he pushes off the wall and comes and sits down, crossing his legs with that usual smirk on his face. "So, Arnold, how does it feel to be married to one of the youngest Pulitzer Prize winners in your generation?"

"Ha, it means I'll have to find some more wall space for another one of her awards." Kelly laughs and I chuckle a bit, mainly for the camera. Don't know what the hell he's talking about. We have three rooms we're not doing anything with at the moment, it can go in one of them. "No, but in all seriousness, I couldn't be more proud of her. I honestly never could have imagined her achieving what she has, but I always knew she had it in her."

"You've been together for how many years now?"

"Thirteen." We answer in unison.

Kelly laughs again, but we just sit there. I want to go home. I'm hungry. "Now Arnold, while Helga is a seven time best selling author, you have a modest career as a middle school music teacher. Why is that?"

"Teaching music was never about money. Helga didn't even know she was a millionaire until we got engaged. But teaching music is what I love to do, and my wife's success just gives me more freedom to do it, and I couldn't ask for more."

"If you had to describe your wife in one phrase, what would that be, Arnold?"

What the hell kind of interview is this? This is why I hate doing interviews. Last one I did was on NPR's All Things Considered. I kind of liked that one. "Sheep in wolf's clothing." He came up with that for the book. I actually loved it.

"Helga, your success would have put a strain on most relationships."

"We've had a rough patch here and there, but he's always been very supportive of my career. And now that I'm announcing my retirement, I'm hoping to get a chance to return the favor for all the book tours he's had to suffer through."

"Your announcement of your retiring has come to quite a shock to your fans. Why now?"

"I've had an amazing career with some amazing fans, but at the risk of sounding selfish, I just want to spend some time catching up on some family time."

"Family time? You know, there are rumors your retirement is because you're expecting. Is this you confirming those rumors?"

"Ha, no, it's not. But uh..." I look over to him with a smile. "We have been trying."

* * *

><p>I creep down the hall, casting a glance over on the breakfast table, seeing the test results open. I've already seen them, but I know he's having a hard time coming to grips with them. I already know where he is. In his favorite room in the house, the room I especially designed for him when we were building this house. The piano room.<p>

After having that old grand piano restored, I wanted to have a special room, that's just his, to put it in. The walls are lined with book shelves, there's a bay window facing out towards the woods that the house is nestled in. To be honest, sometimes, it's my favorite room in the house too. I push open the door, and sure enough, he's sitting with his head hung at the piano.

We got the test results back last night.

I sit down slowly next to him, running a hand up his back. "I knew something must have been wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, love."

"Honey, we've been trying for six months. Our child should have been walking by now."

I lean back a bit, shooting up a brow. "We _were _in the same sex ed class, right?"

He lets out a frustrated sigh and shakes his head. "You know what I mean, Helga."

"Yes." I tell him, reaching for his hand. "I do, but you heard the doctor. We just have to keep trying."

All he does is let out a long, quiet sigh. "I have loved trying." He says with a creeping smile.

"We could go try again right now."

"Hun, you're not ovulating."

I stand up, put my hands on his shoulders and lean down to his ear. "Your point?"

* * *

><p>It's morning, warn, sun beaming through the window's of the kitchen, Nelius sleeping on the deck outside, and it's my first week of summer vacation. My wife wasn't in bed this morning, but I saw the light on in the bathroom. She's been in there for a while, which has me a little worried. Oh well, I'll surprise her with a mocha latte this morning.<p>

It's been about two months since we got the test results back. It hit me hard at first. But, we got through it. Still been trying though. Ever since she retired, she's been doing things to fill her time, audio book readings, book signings for charity, fund raisers for abusive parents awareness groups, she's been happy, and now that her phone isn't always at her ear, we've had this past year to just relax, and I've loved it, her being home now. She brought home a cat four months back though, a tabby. She named it Persephone. I pointed out to her that she was the goddess of the underworld, and she said that that was the point.

But things are pretty good now. Calm. Gerald's career is going great after he cameod in a couple movies. Phoebe got a job working with one of the teams disseminating the data from the large Hadron Collider, and is also being considered to direct a planetarium out in California. Olga got married just a few months after we did to Rick. They had a much smaller ceremony than we did. Helga and her father have gotten closer since he showed up at our wedding. They met for lunch after we got back from Bora Bora and talked. He lives about a half an hour from us now. She even calls him Dad now.

I hear the stairs creak and call out to her. "Hey Hun. I didn't hear you get up this morning."

I don't get a response. She must be sick or something, maybe that's why she was in the bathroom all morning.

"I made you a mocha latte." I tell her, pointing over to the counter with the spatula and go back to making breakfast.

"Is it decaf?" She asks in a small voice.

I laugh loudly. "You know my saying, Bright Eyes, there's a time and a place for decaf: never and in the trash."

"I-I... I need decaf." She says again over the shuffle of her feet against the tile.

I turn around and see her clad in her pink robe, baggy grey t-shirt, and pink flannel pajama pants, with a wide eyed look on her face. "Why, honey?"

She finally looks up to me and lifts up her hand, holding up some kind of... pen, I think. "I'm pregnant."

I feel everything drop in my system, my throat opening up, and my brain not being able to keep track of the thoughts racing through it. "What? A-Are you sure?" I ask her and take a shaky step forward.

"I'm sure, Arnold." She nods, speaking in much firmer voice.

"B-But the doc-doctor said t-that-"

"He said it was unlikely. Not impossible."

"B-But, this-this-this is... this is impossible, you can't be-"

"Arnold, I'm pregnant!" She shouts again, waving the test in front of my eyes.

"You're sure?"

"This is the forth test I've taken, Arnold. I'm pregnant!"

A smile bursts onto both our faces and she jumps into my arms, vicing my neck in her arms, while I do the same to her mid section. I can feel her laughing into my shoulder. I can't stop smiling. I've never been this happy!

I put my lips to her ear. "We're going to have a baby."

* * *

><p>"Sarah?"<p>

"No, I met a Sarah at a book signing once. She was a bitch."

I sigh and look back up at the ceiling. "Heather?"

"Got hate mail from one of those."

"Stephanie?"

"Stalker on Twitter."

"Lila?"

"I just might slap you for that."

"Rhonda!"

She reaches over and slaps my shoulder, and I just laugh.

"Well, Helga, we have to figure out a girl name. We only have four more months."

"We managed to agree on a boy name."

"Yes, which took us two weeks after we went through the list of names of guys that hit on you at every event you've ever attended."

"Well, I never met an Aaron that I wasn't nice."

I sigh and look back up at the ceiling, going through the names. "Hannah?" I don't get a response and look over to her. She's looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Hannah?"

"Hannah."

"You like it?"

"Aaron Phillip Shortman if it's a boy, and Hannah... Mariam Shortman if it's a girl?" She scoots closer to me and lays her head over my shoulder. "Four more months, love."

"You know, we could have found out what it is."

"No, I told you, Arnold, I don't want to know. Under no circumstances are you to tell me what is inside of me. The only thing I want to know is if it's healthy."

"Alright, fine. I won't ask again, I'm sorry."

She moves against my shoulder again so she's staring back up at the ceiling.

This whole pregnancy thing is getting old. I haven't had caffeine in five months. I know that I can, but I didn't want her to go through it alone. I made tea a lot in college though. And I know that I have no room to talk. I mean, I held her hair whenever she had morning sickness, even when it was at two o'clock in the afternoon. The hormones were saying that she hated me, at least I'm hoping it was the hormones. I've been trying my best to help her through this whole thing. After all, she put me through college, she gave me this beautiful home, she's given me an awesome life. The least I could do is help her through this pregnancy.

I mean, technically, it's all my fault anyway.

* * *

><p>"This is all his fault." I tell Phoebe, looking that... dopey smile of his from the couch, which just so happens to have a view into the kitchen. He thinks he can just sit in there with that idiot Gerald and not have to go through what he's putting me through!<p>

"He's been great, Helga. What are you talking about? He's barely let you out of his sight for the past seven months." Phoebe tells me, leaning back in the chair.

"And it's driving me nuts!" I say through grinding teeth. "His feet aren't swollen, he doesn't look like a bloated turtle every time he wants to stand up, he doesn't have cravings that no human should have. You know I had a craving for a double bacon cheese burger with mint chip ice cream and creamed corn on it yesterday?"

"And if I remember correctly, he got it for you." Phoebe points out from over her glasses with a smirk.

"Just that... little... stupid... head of his."

"This pregnancy has really been getting to you, hasn't it?"

"You've no idea." I groan, tossing my head back.

"But you have to admit, Helga, Arnold has been treating you like a queen since day one of this pregnancy. I mean, he's always treated you like a queen, but..."

I sigh and look down at this... thing inside of me. "Yeah, he has." I look up to my husband, and that cute little smile of his, and that beautiful head. "Hey!" I call to him. He looks up and is off his feet in a second, walking quickly over into the living room.

"You need something, Hun?"

I just lift my arms out to him. He takes a step forward and grabs my hand, then trying to pull me up. "No, you dunce! I wanted a hug!"

"Oh... Well, in that case..." He smiles and leans down. But I cross my arms and scowl, irritated. Stupid football head doesn't know when I want a hug. I can hear him sigh and lean back. He walks off, leaving me festering. Next thing I know, I feel his lips on the top of my head. He holds them for a long moment before I feel him lean down to my ear. "I love you too."

* * *

><p><em>"In the arms of the angels..." <em>

Oh, god. Not again. She's doing it again.

"She do this a lot?" Gerald asks me from across the breakfast table.

"It's been everyday. I've tried to block it, but she just won't give it up." I stand up and go into the living room. Where, sure enough, my nine month pregnant wife is sitting on the couch, an irritated tabby in her lap, laptop open, watching another one of those sad animal commercials on the internet with tears streaming down her face. "Honey..." I say softly, not wanting to set her off, "I thought we made an agreement on the sad animal commercials. All they do is make you cry."

"Everything makes me cry. So what's your point?"

I sigh, reach over and slowly shut the laptop. "My point is if you know it's going to make you cry, why do you watch it? Last time you did, I had to talk you out of adopting another cat."

She scoffs and starts to lean forward. I rush around the couch and go in front of her, grabbing her laptop and setting it down on the coffee table. After she's on her feet, she gives me one of her looks. "I just wanted to pet one."

"You bought another collar, Honey."

She scoffs and adds an eye roll, pushing past me and down the hall towards the bathroom. I let out a sigh and go back into the kitchen, picking up my cup of tea. "Sad animal commercials?" Gerald asks me.

I shrug my shoulders and hang my head. "This pregnancy thing is getting real old, Gerald."

"Well, just a few more weeks and you'll have a whole other set of problems to deal with."

"Yeah." I say with a nod.

"When is she due again?"

"The doctor said not for another week, but they also said it could be any day now. At this point, I just want her to go into labor so I can start breathing again. It's driving me nuts, this waiting."

"You still haven't told her yet?"

"She won't let me. I've tried, several times ever since I found out. She's adamant about not knowing what she's having. It was hard enough convincing her doctor to let me have the results."

"She's gonna be pissed when she finds out she has to go through it twice."

"You have everything ready?"

"Got big Bob and Rick helping me move all the stuff in the minute you leave for the hospital. But you got to tell her before she finds out on her own."

I feel a smile curl onto my face when I think of when all of this is over, what it's going to be like. "It'll be worth it."

_"ARNOOOOOOOLD!" _

* * *

><p><em>"AAAAHHHHH!" <em>She screams, crushing my already severely crushed hand.

"You're doing great, Mrs. Shortman."

"I swear to god, if this kid has your head shape, I'm going to _kill_ you, Football Head!"

"Actually, Hun, I read online that the ratio is a pinto be-"

She wrenches my collar and pulls me toward her, fire glaring through me. "I'll _make it _a football." She hisses.

"You're doing great, Mrs. Shortman, you're almost there."

"_Graahhhhh!" _She shouts again.

I put my head against hers, feeling I have to tell her now. "Helga, I love you so much. You're the strongest person I've ever known. And when this is over, we'll finally get to meet them."

She pants again, "Them?"

"It's twins, Helga."

"What?!"

"A boy and a girl."

"Why the _hell _didn't you tell me?!" She scolds over her heavy panting.

"I tried, but you didn't want to hear it, Honey."

"Oh, Arnold, we are _so _not ready for this. We need-"

"Gerald is taking care of everything right now."

"Next time this happens, you _tell _me!"

"Okay, Helga, next time we have twins, I promise I'll tell you."

"Oh, Arnold, we're having twins!" She says with a smile bursting onto her face.

"We're having twins!"

* * *

><p>"Wow." I say, finally getting to hold my son. Ha... my son. I'm a mother, to this beautiful baby boy, and to that beautiful baby girl my husband is holding.<p>

"Yeah... wow." He says, eyes fixed on Hannah. Aaron is sleeping quietly, but Hannah is a bit squirmish. I swear we both had tears in our eyes when she wrapped her tiny little fingers around her father's finger. I guess it's true what they say, I've never felt a love this full and unconditional for anything before. We're a family. "You ready to be a mother?"

"No where near ready. You?"

"I'm terrified." He says, eyes still fixed on Hannah with a blissful smile on his face. "But I'm looking forward to it."

Hannah coos and squirms in her fathers arms and I look over to her. "She's a lively one, isn't she?"

"Well, she's had to spend nine months in a foot wide room with her brother, I think she just needs some space."

I laugh and lay my head down on his shoulder, fixing my gaze back down to Aaron, whose still sleeping soundly. "Only an hour old, and I already love these two more than I thought possible."

"I know what you mean." He says and puts his head down on mine. "You know, a few months back, I was talking to Mom and she was telling me that even though she had me in the middle of a volcanic eruption, when she first set eyes on me, she knew her life felt complete. I never really understood what she meant until I finally got to meet these two. Aaron and Hannah Shortman."

"Aaron and Hannah Shortman. What do you think they're going to be like?"

"Hannah is going to have the strong, courageous heart of her mother, she won't be afraid to be herself, she'll stick up for herself and others, and she'll have all the grace and elegance of her mother. What do you think he'll be like?"

"I think he'll have the golden heart of his father, he'll always look out for others, be helpful and loving to everyone, he'll be able to bring a smile to everyone's face just by walking in the room, and he'll always be able to see the bright side of things, able to find the silver lining of even the darkest clouds. But like we agreed, we can not expect too much of them. Our job is to just be there for them and support them. Alright?"

"Agreed."

* * *

><p>It's been three months since we had Aaron and Hannah, and it's been a handful, tiring, but it's been worth it. These kids are amazing! It's just lucky that they were born the first week of summer vacation. So Arnold and I got to spend all summer with them. I love Aaron and Hannah to death, but I need a night off with my husband. And I finally get that chance. Rick and Olga are coming over to babysit, I have a new dress on, Arnold should be in his tux by now, and now I managed to get a last minute reservation at this real up scale restaurant downtown.<p>

I never really liked going to these snobby places, wait an hour for one fistful of some crap that I can't even pronounce, let alone swallow, but this place is suppose to be really good. And with the twins taking shifts in who wakes us up, I think we have both earned a night off. I put my other earring in and head down the stairs. "Hey love, Olga and Rick are gonna be here any minute, are you ready?" I step into the living room, where he's knelt down by the blanket where the twins are. He's in his tux, but his jacket is hung over the back of the couch.

"Uh... yeah, I'm uh..." He stands up and runs his hand over his hair. "I'm feeling a little sick. I-I don't think that I want to go."

"Arnold, I love you, and I love our kids, but I need this night out. So just get a plastic bag out of the kitchen and let's go." I tell him and go into the hall closet to get my coat.

"No, really, I-I uh... I'm just not feeling up to it." He says and turns back towards the kids.

"Honey, come on, we're going to be late." I tell him, tossing him his coat

He grabs it and looks back down to the ground toward the kids. "Really, hun, can't we just spend the night in?"

"No, love, I made the reservations, it's costing me more money than I spent on a dinner since we got married, and Olga has been buzzing in my ear to spend time with her baby niece and nephew. If I don't placate her soon, she'll never leave me alone, now come on." I tell him, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the door.

"I'm not leaving them, okay!" He shouts. Before I know what's going on, he's pacing back towards the twins and kneeling back down.

I'm floored, finally feeling everything clicking into place. He's never wanted to leave them. He's always given me an excuse when we needed to run errands or something. But now I think I get it. "Love," I say softly, coming up behind him and kneeling down next to him, "what's this really about?"

He sighs and closes his eyes. "Helga, how can you even think about leaving them?"

"We're not leaving them, Arnold. We're going out to dinner. We'll be back in a few hours. It's not like we're going-"

"To South America for just a few days?" He finishes and looks over to me.

I sigh, finally knowing what's bothering him. "Is that what this is about?" I ask him, putting a hand on his cheek.

His eyes close and his head sinks. "I was one year old when my parents left for South America. They were only supposed to be gone for a week, maybe two. They were gone for almost thirteen years, Helga."

"We're coming back to them, Arnold. I didn't spend twenty hours in labor to only get to spend three months with them. Everything is going to be fine, love. To be honest, I'm a little scared too."

"Really?" He asks me, sounding surprised, looking up to me.

"Well yeah, this is the first time they'll be out of our sight since they were born. Don't you think it's a little nerve wracking for me? I mean, it's like I'm their mother or anything." He sighs, still making no motion to agree to go out tonight. If it comes down to it, I'll cancel without hesitation, I'd understand now that I know what he's going through. I always thought the scars of his parents disappearing were healed, but had no idea they'd come back like this. Maybe this is just too big a step. "Come here." I tell him and pull him toward me. We kiss for a few seconds and lean back.

After a few more seconds of him looking down at Aaron and Hannah, he nods. "Okay."

Just then, we hear the door opening. "Alright, where is my niece and nephew?" Olga coos. "Where are those beautiful little balls of adorable cuteness?" She coos again as she rounds the couch. "There they are! There are my little cuties." She says, pushing in between us to get to the twins.

My husband and I stand up, feeling him pull me into his side. "She does realize that they're our kids, right?"

"Eh, maybe we'll get lucky and she'll tire them out and we can finally get a full eight ours of sleep tonight. Besides, I think she's going to kick us out anyway so she can dress them up in weird outfits."

"She'll do that?"

"She did it to me."


	34. Epilogue-Part 6

**A/N: Last installment of the epilogue, and last chapter of the story, Declaring it done after this is posted. Like I said, I think the adventures of Hannah and Aaron could be fun. But I'm probably grasping. Anyway, I hope you liked the story. I discovered recently that this story is actually on the first page if you search for stories sorted by highest number of followers. Didn't know that! Thanks to everyone whose followed this story over the years and supported this take on their relationship, and thanks to all those who reviewed, it's all been great.**

* * *

><p>This... stinks.<p>

I didn't even do anything! All I did was push that overgrown chimp off my brother. What was I supposed to do? Just sit there and watch him beat up my little brother? And I don't care what he says, Mom told me I was born first. Daddy will get me out of this though. He did last time.

The door opens and the principal steps out. "Alright, young lady, come on."

I huff and jump out of the chair. "It wasn't me." I tell him and go to the chair on the other side of his desk. He comes around and sits down in his own chair and puts his hands together on his desk, giving me one of his stupid looks. "What? It wasn't me! You can ask Gwen!" I say and cross my arms.

"Hannah, Mrs. Rose saw you run up to Tyler and push him to the ground."

"I did _not _push him to the ground. I pushed him _off _my brother. Get your facts straight." I mutter and slink down in my chair.

"Well, nevertheless, Hannah, we can not have-"

The door opens and I look over and smile. "Sorry I'm late, had to rush over."

"Daddy!" He'll get me out of this! My daddy loves his little princess, which just so happens to be me.

"Hi, princess." He says and puts a hand on my head. "Her mother will be in in just a minute."

Oh crud.

"That's fine, Mr. Shortman."

I sulk back down in my chair, Daddy goes over to the wall and leans against some book shelves, and I hear Mom's voice outside the door. "Just stay there, and we'll go in a minute."

"But, Mommy, Hannah was just-"

"I don't want to hear it right now, Aaron. We'll talk about it when we get home." That's never good a good sign, talking to us when we get home. Mom's never afraid to let us have it in public. She steps through the door and I sink down even lower in my seat, hiding from her. "Hi, sorry we're late."

"Yes, please, have a seat, Mrs. Shortman."

I don't look up but I see her sit down in the chair next to me. "So, what happened?"

"Well, it seems your daughter got into a bit of a fight with another student at recess."

"Hannah!" Daddy says from the other side of the room, and I feel so bad right now. I hate it when Daddy sounds like that. I get in trouble with Mom all the time, but Dad's different. I mean, Mom's alright most of the time. But why do we live in a house with so many hiding places if we weren't supposed to use them?

"As you can imagine, this is a serious offense. Hannah is facing suspension." Uh oh. "Considering that you're a teacher at Crestview Middle School, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that the district has a strict zero tolerance policy on fighting. And this isn't the first time we've talked to her about this. In fact this isn't the first time she's been warned about her behavior towards other students."

I look over to Mom, expecting her to be looking at me like she's literally about to kill me, but when I look up, she's looking at Principal Brown like that. Huh.

"Did you talk to any other students about what happened?"

"It's not part of our-"

"So you didn't ask anyone else, any other students present at the time of the altercation, or any other staff present during recess about what happened between my daughter and this other student?"

"No, ma'am, but you see-"

"Because I talked to my son, Aaron, her twin brother, who _was _present at the time, and he told me that Hannah was simply pushing another boy off of him who had my son pinned on the ground. And judging by your tone, I'm guessing you didn't know that. Did you?"

"Well, I-I hadn't gotten a chance to let Hannah give me her side of the story, so-"

"So instead you just drag her in here and threaten her with suspension?"

"Mrs. Shortman-"

"And I'm sure you are aware that the school district also has a zero tolerance policy on bullying, if I'm correct." She says and looks over to Daddy, who has a bit of a blank look on his face with his arms crossed. He nods. He doesn't look as mad as Mom does, but the only time the only time I've ever seen Daddy mad is when me and Aaron were playing in the piano room and accidentally knocked over his guitar. "So, I assume that you are also starting the process needed to suspend the other child as well?"

Principal Brown sighs and closes his eyes. "Not yet, Mrs. Shortman."

"In that case, before you try to make an example out of my daughter, I suggest you do your job, and get the whole story before you jump to conclusions just so you can get on with your day. That said, my son tells me the boy who was bullying him this afternoon at recess was named Tyler."

"Tyler Moss, yes, he's a bit of a troublemaker."

"What I would suggest for you to do is to have Tyler come into your office, or preferably your school councilors office tomorrow morning, have Aaron come in with him and have them talk it out, then have Hannah come down, and then the councilor-"

"Debra, Hun."

"Debra, can file a report to you and if she recommends suspension for our daughter," she stops and looks over to me with the same scary look she's giving Principal Brown, "then I will be glad to send her to her Grandpa Bob's to do some chores." Oh no no no no no, not Grandpa Bob. I'm seven! I can't chop wood! Last time I got sent there, he made me sweep his driveway. His driveway is made out of dirt!

Principal Brown closes his eyes and nods. "I think we can do that, Mrs. Shortman."

Mom smiles and nods. "Good." She stands up and grabs her purse. "I'm glad we could work this out."

Mom is the first one out the door and Daddy waits till I'm passing him, putting his hand on my head. I walk out of the principals office, seeing Aaron standing up from one of the chairs by the lady's desk. "Daddy, am I in trouble?" I look up to him.

"No, pumpkin. You were just standing up for your brother. Mom should understand."

"She was pretty mad in there though."

"She wasn't mad at you, Hannah."

"But she said I had to do chores at Grandpa's."

"Hey," Daddy picks me up and smiles, "you're not going to Grandpa Bob's. I won't let your mother send my kids there without me again."

"Daddy!" Aaron runs up from down the hall where he was walking next to Mom. "Mommy said that Uncle Gerald and Aunt Phoebe are coming over tonight." Really?! Uncle Gerald is so much fun! I love it when he comes over. "Are they really?"

"Yep. And you can tell them all about what a brave sister you have." Daddy says and looks over to me. "I'm sure they'd love to hear this one."

"Yeah, I'd just _love _to tell the story of how I needed to have my little sister defend me in front of the whole school."

"If you weren't so scrawny, I wouldn't need to, and it's _big _sister! I was born first!"

"Were not!"

"Were too!"

"Daddy?" We ask at the same time.

Daddy looks at me, then Aaron, then over to Mommy. "Wasn't it..." He says to her, nodding his head over to me. I smile and start bouncing on my feet.

"You want to know who was born first?" Mom asks with a half smile. Me and Aaron both nod. She bends over and looks at us both. "_I _was, now get in the car."

* * *

><p>I open the door and the kids drop their backpacks right as they get through the door and start bolting upstairs. "Whoa whoa whoa." Helga calls, stopping the kids half way up the stairs. "I don't remember moving into a cave." She snaps her fingers and points towards the kids back packs they left on the floor. Both Aaron and Hannah groan and roll their eyes in almost the exact same way and drag themselves down stairs and pick up their backpacks and take them upstairs.<p>

I hear them let out a long breath and push her hair back with her hand. "Something wrong, Hun?" I ask, going toward the kitchen.

She starts following me into the kitchen while I roll up my sleeves and start up the espresso machine. "Where did she get this from? This... problem with authority. This is the third time Hannah has been called into the principal's office this year alone."

"Am I answering that honestly?" I ask after a pause, looking over my shoulder toward her, while she gives me a snide look.

"I'm serious, Arnold. We have to do something about this. We can't just keep letting this go, every time she gets into a fight with another kid."

"Well, Helga, I think this time is different. Aaron said that that kid pushed him down and grabbed him by the collar. Hannah was just doing what any sibling would do. I'm proud of her."

"Why on earth are you proud of the fact that our daughters first reaction to something like that is violence?"

"Hey, what I would have given to have someone step in every time _you _pushed me to the ground."

She steps up next to me and turns my head toward her with two fingers on my jaw. "How else was I supposed to get you underneath me?" She asks with that sexy little smirk.

"You could have just..." I put my hand on her side and tug her into me, "I don't know, asked?"

"Mmm." She moans and puts her arms around my neck. "Woman in my family don't ask for things we want. We just take them."

"Is that why Hannah has such bad manners?"

She slaps my shoulder and backs away with a scoff, and I just laugh and go back to making us some lattes. "So, what are we going to do about Hannah?" She asks, sitting in one of the stools by the island.

"Well, I think she gets a bit of a free pass on this one. She was just defending her brother. But I think we have to tell her that she can't solve her problems with violence."

"Yeah." She says on a sigh. "Sometimes you have to lip sync some lame song."

"Well, it worked, didn't it?"

The kids come back down about a half an hour later when I'm in the living room with a piece of half empty sheet music in my lap. I still don't know how I was able to get a piece of music published, but I did. When I did, I got offered a position at Oregon State University as a professorship. But that's over four hours from here, it would have meant moving, so I turned it down. Didn't take too long to think about it, honestly. When we spent the whole year after we got married searching for just the right house with no luck, we finally just decided to build one. I love this house too.

Mom and Dad still live pretty close. They stay active in the local charities, but they're retired for the most part. Olga moved back to Hillwood with her husband and replaced Principal Wartz just after the twins were born. They actually ended up adopting a child, and were adamant about it being from this country. His name is Sam, and the kids like it when he comes down. I'm glad my kids get to have an extended family. Bob lives about forty five minutes outside the city. He retired from his job a few years ago and bought an old farm house on about ten acres. We like to go out there... when we aren't punishing the kids.

Gerald stopped touring as a comic this year and announced his retirement from comedy. With his career being so demanding, and Phoebe's being just as, if not more demanding, they never got the chance to have kids. But they visit us, and everyone else's kids that they get their fill. I know Lisa, Rhonda's and Curly's daughter gives them a bit of a run for their money. She has Rhonda's attitude and Curly's wild side. She's just about as spoiled as her mother too.

Lila ended up being a teacher too, actually. A preschool teacher at Urban Tot's, where we all went. She discovered her gift for small children during her freshman year of college when she got pregnant. Her and Sid broke up just after graduation, amicably, and she went on to meet a guy who seemed nice until the test came back positive. Cut and run after that. I wanted to track him down for her and talk to him, I thought I could talk him into going back and being there for her, but Lila made me promise not to, so I didn't. But Helen is a pretty sweet kid. Lila named her after her mother. I didn't see her until she came to a book signing of Everyone Needs An Umbrella. That's when she told us what had happened, that she read Helga's book and loved it.

But in the mean time, I hear the door open and I stand up, knowing I'm being beaten to the door by my kids, who know who's coming through the door. "Uncle Gerald!" They both shout, dashing toward the open door.

"Oh come on. What kind of greeting is that for your godfather?" Gerald says and bends down, hoisting Hannah up while his leg gets viced by Aaron. "Man, next time I come through the door, you might have to pick me up, you're getting so big!"

"I bet I could do it right now." Hannah boasts smuggly.

"All the confidence of her mother and then some." Gerald says, looking at me, while I just smile at the sight I'm looking at. I have awesome kids.

"You have no idea, Gerald. Hi Phoebe." I say to Phoebe, going over to the doorway to hug her. "Hannah, you want to tell your Uncle Gerald what happened today?"

"I beat a kid up!"

"Hannah!" Phoebe scolds next to me.

"Was she bigger than you?" Gerald asks, still holding my smirking daughter in his arms.

"It was a boy." I tell him.

"You beat up a boy?!" Gerald asks with astonishment. Hannah smiles and folds her arms, quite proud of her self. The fact that my daughter is proud of the fact that she got into a fight with a boy and won should probably scare me. "Alright, hi-five!" Hannah hi-fives her godfather with a giggle.

He sets Hannah back down to the ground, while I tell Phoebe that Helga is in the kitchen getting dinner ready. It isn't until Hannah is on the ground that Gerald notices my son, whose pouting, still attached to his leg. "What's with the face, little man?" Aaron mumbles something into Gerald's pant leg, causing Gerald to hoist him just, just as he did Hannah, whose ran off after Phoebe. "Sorry, I don't speak little boy with pant leg in their mouth."

Aaron smiles, and I know what's upsetting him. "Hannah had to push a kid off me today at recess."

"Alright, come on, you can tell me all about it." Gerald says, walking into the living room and plopping down into the recliner by the window. "So, what happened at recess?"

I'm just as anxious to hear this as he is. Helga and I were going to talk to him together, but Gerald might get him to be a bit more honest. Aaron's a great kid, he has such a good heart, so him being involved in something like this came as a big shock. I mean, I inadvertently taught him perfect pitch, so I've had to be his music teacher, so we're pretty close.

"Well, me and my friends needed one more person for our basketball game, so I went over and asked this kid Tyler if he wanted to be on our team. Tyler doesn't have many friends, so I thought it would be nice if he played with us. He said no, so I asked him if he wanted to sit with us at lunch, because he doesn't usually have a lunch with him. That's when he pushed me and grabbed my shirt. Then Hannah runs over and pushes him off of me and starts yelling at him."

His mother is not going to like hearing this. "So you got bullied?" Gerald asks nonchalantly.

"Yeah. It stunk. Not as much as my sister having to defend me though. She's a girl!"

"Hey, your daddy got bullied by a girl when we were your age."

"You were bullied, Daddy?" My son asks me.

"By a girl?" I hear my daughter ask, darting into the living room and jumping up onto the couch, while Aaron climbs off Gerald and goes to my other side, so both my kids are staring at me wide-eyed, waiting for me to answer them.

"Yep."

"No way!" They both say together.

"Oh yeah. I remember her, too."

"You do?" Hannah asks.

"Sure, I do. She really had it in for your dad. She would spit spitballs at him, squirt him with the water fountain, spill tapioca pudding on him, call him a sorts of names, she was the meanest thing on two legs, and she hated your daddy. She bullied him _every _day when we were kids."

"What did you do, Daddy?" Hannah asks me.

"Yeah, you fill her locker with Jell-o?" Aaron asks me.

"Put wet noodles in her desk?"

"Superglue her butt to her chair?"

"Yeah, what did you do, Daddy?"

"Yeah, what happened to her?"

"She's in the kitchen."

Both their jaws drop, and their eyes go wide. "Mom?" They ask together. They do that a lot. I nod. They both scramble off of me and off of the couch, making a bee line toward the kitchen. "Mommy!" They call. I look over toward the kitchen, where Helga came in and was greeted by her children trying to tackle her.

"What is it, kids?"

"You bullied Daddy when you were kids?" Hannah asks.

Helga looks at me agape. "Arnold, your were going to let me tell them!"

"Don't look at me." I say, holding a hand out to Gerald.

"Why did you bully Daddy, Mom?" Hannah asks, attached to one of her mother's legs, while Aaron is on the other, looking up at her.

"Well, princess," She starts and walks over to the couch and sits down next to me, pulling Hannah up on her lap, and I reach down to lift Aaron up into mine, "because I loved your Dad very, very much."

"But why did you bully him then?" Aaron asks.

"It's kind of hard to explain, Sweetie. I bullied him because I loved him, and didn't want him to know that I loved him."

"It was a secret?" Hannah asks.

"Yep, the biggest secret ever. Not even Aunt Phoebe knew about it."

"Yes, I did!" She calls from the kitchen.

"But Mommy, I thought you said that bullying was wrong." Aaron says.

"It is, it's very wrong. That's why I don't want you two to bully people, because I know how much of a hard time I gave your father."

"I couldn't stand her." I chime in.

"Really? You didn't love Mom back?" Hannah asks.

"Not until we were grown ups. But even though I couldn't stand her at the time, I knew that she was a great person." I hear Gerald snort from across the room.

"Shut it, Hair Boy." Helga says through clenched teeth.

"What she's trying to say, Hannah, is that you really shouldn't judge a person like Tyler. He might be a better person than you might think."

The kids look down to their laps and I look over to my wife, moving my eyes over toward the kitchen, indicating that we need to talk in private.

* * *

><p>I slow to a stop outside the small out in the suburbs. After I talked to Aaron more about Tyler, I decided to do something. I know the school system can't do anything, and I can't just sit idly by while this happens to another child, especially if my kids are involved. I've done the best I can with my kids, and I love them more than anything in the world, and I'm really proud of Aaron and how he tried to befriend someone like Tyler. He has so much of his father in him. "Alright, come on, Sweetie." I get out and wait for Aaron to get around the car, holding out my hand. He takes it and we head up to the door.<p>

I take a look inside the pick up truck as I pass it. Obviously middle class blue collar, and obviously drinks, might be a hunter, this is Oregon after all. Hunting is pretty big around here. I head up to the door and knock. And after a moment, the door opens and a woman about my age with short, dark hair answers the door, and her eyes get wide. "Oh my god." She obviously recognized me. "Oh my go... You're H.G. Creek!"

"H.G. Creek is actually my pen name, I'm Helga Shortman." I say and stick out my hand and she shakes it vigorously.

"Oh, I'm such a big fan! I-I... c-could you please, um..." She walks over to the coffee table and grabs the third book in the series, and a pen. I smile and open to the title page and sign it. -_H.G. Creek, I'm here to talk about your husband. _She reads it and her eyes get wide, then she looks behind her shoulder. "What?"

"Well, it seems that Tyler and my son, Aaron," I say, putting my hands on my sons shoulder, "got into a bit of an argument at school on Friday. And after I was told about Tyler, I felt that it was best I come by."

"Who is it?" A deep voice bellows from inside the house, and a few moments after, a tall figure comes out from around the corner. "Who are you?"

"I'm Helga Shortman, your son, Tyler, goes to school with my son, Aaron and my daughter Hannah. And it seems that Aaron and Tyler got into a bit of an argument, and it got a bit out of hand."

"Tye! Get out here!" He yells. I don't even flinch, but I can feel Aaron burrow into my protectively, wrapping himself around my leg. I see a seven year old boy with dark hair come from around the corner, looking so small. "I thought I told you no more trouble making. What's goin' on with you, boy? You didn't hear me?"

"Sir, if I may interject." I say firmly, taking a step inside the house. Tyler's father looks over and I harden myself. "I came by because after I heard what happened, and asked my son to tell me about Tyler, I felt it best, for the sake of Tyler, to come by and urge you to show your son a little more love and support. And I can tell, just by being here for the past couple minutes that you feel it's best to rule your family with an iron fist, and your child doesn't have any problems you can't beat out of him, but I can tell you right now that your are setting your child on a path that does not have a bright future."

"Who are _you _anyway, lady?"

"She's a seven time best selling author, Michael. She's famous."

"I am also friends with Vanessa, down at Child Protective Services, who will not hesitate to come down and think of a solution that is best for Tyler. Now I would not relish calling her, because seperating a child from their parents is permanently damaging, no matter what the circumstance. But I need you to understand something, Mr. Moss." I tell him and take a few more steps toward him. "If you keep trying to scare your own problems out of your child, you are causing more problems then you are fixing. If you want, I can give you the number to a very talented family councilor who will sit down with all of you and talk all of this out. But if you don't, you should know..." I take one more step closer to him so I'm standing just a foot away from him. "The judge in a divorce hearing always sides with the abused mother and her child over the abusive father."

He stares me down for a few long moments, but backs down once he sees I'm not backing down. "Alright." He says.

I pull a card out of my pocket and hand it to him. "I'm sure that squeeze you in sometime next week." I say seriously. I step back, turning around and grabbing Aaron's hand, smiling. "But in the mean time, I'm sure that we'd love to have Tyler come over some time." I say, looking between Tyler's mother and Tyler, whose peaking out from around the corner.

"Would you like that, Tye?" His mother asks him. He looks down to the floor, kicks his foot and nods. "I'm sure we could work something out."

"Why don't we let the kids decide. But, we actually have to get going." I look back over to Tyler's father pointedly, "I'm glad we could work this all out, Mr. Moss."

"Nice seeing you."

"It was an honor meeting you."

I smile and lead Aaron out the door and down the drive way. "Mommy?"

"Yes, Sweetie?" I say, looking down to my son.

"Can you not tell anyone that a girl had to defend me?"

"That girl happens to be your sister. And you should be proud that you have a sister that looks out for you like that." I wish mine did what I was his age.

"Mommy, please? She's going to hold this over me for the rest of my life as it is. So please, can you not say anything?"

I smile and open the back door, "It will be our secret, honey."

"Really? You won't tell anyone?"

"Not a soul."


End file.
